An Old Threat in a New Era
by Sparty the Bold
Summary: Many centuries have passed since Hyrule disappeared from the earth. Ganondorf reclaims the long-lost Triforce of Power and begins a search for the two other pieces. / Set in the present-day, and follows long after the events of the games.
1. Prologue

**The Legend of Zelda: An Old Threat in a New Era**

By Sparty and Erico

_**A/N:** When I was 16 years old, I came up with the idea for this story and thought I'd enlist the help of a friend (Erico, another author on this site) to write it. We made it a joint project, switching off every other chapter until completion._

_The current version you are about to read is the rewrite. I've been reworking both my own and Erico's chapters, with his blessing, to undo much of the bad writing that plagued the first version. You can still find the very original text in Erico's own library of stories on this site._

_**Prologue**_

By Sparty

_Twenty years earlier: The Great Pyramids, Egypt._

Ganondorf Dragmire led his recently assembled team of archaeological and excavation experts towards the largest of the Great Pyramids in Egypt. Many contested that centuries of exploration and study showed that there were no more mysteries to be found within the walls of any of the ancient structures. This day was going to prove unquestionably otherwise, but afterward the world would continue on about its business as if nothing were different, the discovery of a lifetime never to escape the walls of an ancient tomb.

The wealthy man walking towards his destination knew that all that was needed from him was to merely touch the object of his desire, and the world would bend to his will as easily as water filled out exactly to the contours of a vase.

The Great Pyramid towered above those before it, worn down in many places by the combination of sand and wind that beat upon it daily for millenia. The group of diggers and treasure seekers were of mixed feelings; some reveled in the chance granted them to visit one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, while there were others that resented the fact that they were here, for they were all convinced that there was nothing else of note to find in the obelisk-shaped tomb.

The person leading the group was also the one that had organized and funded this expedition, the director and owner of Dragmire Industries: an extremely tall man with dark, olive-colored skin, flame-like red hair, and a short, trim beard. His golden eyes were intense, always taking in everything he saw with great scrutiny. His skin, though dark, was without blemish, and he looked much younger than he actually was; in reality he was much older than anyone could have guessed. Usually, one would find him in much more lavish attire. Today, however, he was wearing a simple set of desert wear that consisted of a short sleeved tan shirt, khaki shorts, thick, leather boots that just went up past his ankles, and a tan, wide-brimmed hat. His muscular tone suggested that he still found time to meet with personal trainers despite his extremely busy work schedule.

Awaiting the group, hands folded to his front, was a man in flowing, red robes that stood between them and the pyramid. The man was also wearing a turban the same color as his robes, and the lower half of his face was covered by a cloth mask with only his beady eyes barely showing above it. Ganondorf walked up and shook hands with him.

"Good to see you again," the turbaned man said to Ganondorf in a pleasant, but ancient-sounding voice. "I trust your flight over the Atlantic was agreeable."

Ganondorf flashed a grin towards his friend. "I would do anything to achieve what we have planned for today, even if it means to cross the ocean in one of those accursed airplanes."

"Good to see that you're as grumpy as ever. And airplanes are not accursed; there's just no remedy for turbulence."

Ganondorf grumbled his agreement under his breath then turned to face his crew. They had been assembled within the space of twenty-four hours and in a timely fashion, which Mr. Dragmire liked, he himself a fanatic for punctuality. There were four total, and each person represented a different country: the United States, England, Egypt, and Russia.

Prior to this occasion, one of Ganondorf's satellites had created a spectral analysis image that revealed a rather large energy spike of unique origin emanating from the great pyramids near Cairo. It was this unusual occurrence that immediately prompted him into action.

He used discrepancy and secrecy in pulling together the excavation crew, but who could say "no" when they and the institutes they represented were being well paid to participate at such short notice? Mr. Dragmire was known for his many charitable contributions, but there were also many donations that weren't in the public eye. Many of these large movements of money were what expedited his endeavors and earned him footholds in the world that would have been inaccessible without the wonder that was currency.

Ganondorf rubbed his beard and spoke in a deep voice to the group of internationally diverse excavators. "My contacts here have already investigated this pyramid and have found evidence of an unexplored region deep below the surface. Your job is to open the way, and I believe that should be a simple enough task. There will be gold, I am sure of it, but you cannot touch it until I am allowed to examine it for myself. Are we clear on this rule?"

A man from the group of archaeologists, Dr. Thomas Smith, raised a hand and asked in a thick, British accent, "You're asking us _not_ to touch any gold?"

"As if there would be any left down there now," the Russian, Dr. Olig Sokolov, said.

"But why is that?" continued Smith. "You afraid it'll turn to dust or something?"

Ganondorf bared his teeth in a knowing grin. "Perhaps the heat is making you a bit edgy. Just so we don't forget: my money, my rules. Your jobs are to follow orders no matter how ridiculous they may seem to you. You'll get your piece of fame for this, I assure you, so I wouldn't worry too much about your reputations." He left them with this promise, knowing still that any one of them would be out of their minds to not take up his offer—the excavators' paychecks for this particular trip were the largest any of them had ever seen in their careers.

Ganondorf trailed his robed associate through the pyramid entrance. The crew followed close behind and pulled out high-powered flashlights from their packs with the darkening interior.

The inside of the pyramid was much cooler than the oven-like 110 degree weather outside, and the archaeologists were soon in better spirits for it. The walls of the ruin were riddled with ancient hieroglyphs and depictions of Egypt's extensive polytheistic history. Ganondorf and his guide didn't stop to admire the age-old drawings, much to the dismay of the crew. They wound their way far below the structure of the Great Pyramid, and the air slowly became more stagnant and musty. Soon they arrived at a bare room, in which there were no trace of hieroglyphs nor any previous digs.

The man from Egypt, Fareed al-Sayeed, who was a local expert on ancient Egyptian architecture and a natural cynic, chuckled a little at what they found. "It appears we have stumbled upon an ancient walk-in closet. This is of great value to all who come here. We are very lucky, indeed." The team of excavators laughed at his sarcasm and agreed that the room was nothing spectacular, that it was probably literally what the man had just described it to be.

The masked man laughed heartily. "Ho! Ho! Ho! Yes, it appears that there isn't anything noteworthy here, but our instruments have detected a chamber below this one. This is where we will set up and begin breaking through to our new discovery."

Dr. Sokolov, noted for his intellect and concise logic, spoke up. "I know these pyramids very well. I have been here with my own team in the past, decades ago. (I must assume my experiences here are the reason behind my membership on this crew.) And...this particular room...I'm positive that my team has inspected it as well. There is nothing beneath the floor here; any extra chambers would have been discovered many years ago. What makes you believe otherwise?"

"It's simple, really," explained the turbaned man, a little gleeful. "Instead of using the usual sound-penetrating devices that show us where hollow areas are located, we used carbon-dating on a sample of the floor here."

"What!"exclaimed the American, Professor Martin Parker III, who hadn't spoken until then. "What would that prove? Carbon dating works only in very _large_ numbers. One can barely know the age of something to the thousand year mark, and these ruins are _only_ a few thousand years old, making such calculations imprecise in this case."

"Well, we _do_ know how carbon dating is supposed to work, and we also know when it doesn't."

"I don't quite follow," said Dr. Smith, a little puzzled.

"It's alright," assured the robed guide. "Essentially, we found no trace of break-down nor decay in this room's floor."

The Brit nearly dropped his equipment, fumbling to keep a grasp on it in the midst of his surprise. "That's bloody impossible," he sputtered. "_Everything_ breaks down over time."

"Apparently, that doesn't hold true with whatever this floor is made of. It's as if the stone has been frozen in time, preserved in its original form. We imagine that the chamber below is very much the same."

"If there even _is_ a chamber," retorted the Russian a little pompously.

Ganondorf said nothing in reply, despite how annoyed he was growing at the festering skepticism of the group. Murmuring ceased to come to an end for the next few hours, but Mr. Dragmire was beyond the point of caring. Besides, the information that the archaeologists were going off of was extremely limited when compared to Ganondorf's own resources—their ignorance for what they were about to unearth was no fault of their own.

* * *

Time crawled forward at a slow pace. Ganondorf pressed his team hard, giving them very few breaks as they worked. He was eager to get through to what lay beyond the solid rock floor, and he wanted no delays in arriving at his goal. Finally, the words he had been waiting to hear came to his ears.

"We're through!"

Cheering erupted among the excavators, but Ganondorf remained quiet, as did his associate. Only a thin smile showed on his lips as he started to rub his beard again. A rope was tied firmly at the top of the hole leading down into the chamber below. Ganondorf offered to go first, and he descended the line, flashlight by his side.

The chamber was immensely larger than the previous one, and its walls were covered in ancient runes and symbols, clearly not of Egyptian origin; they were very different in appearance as well as style. At one end of the chamber was a large doorway with no apparent way to open it. It was smooth-surfaced and looked to be pure gold. On either side of it stood a statue of a warrior with a sword drawn, pointed towards the doorway. Above it was a golden symbol of three, upright, equilateral triangles designed to touch each other at their ending points: two on the bottom,and one on top.

The crew followed behind Ganodnorf and descended the rope into the chamber below, their mysterious, turbaned guide the last to come down. The excavators were in shock and awe from the spacious room, and each noted in turn that it was definitely not made by the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt, the craftsmanship far exceeding that of Ramses or any of the great kings for that matter. The one most awestruck was Fareed; the Egyptian had studied the pyramids more than any of the other people on the crew. His cynicism was undoubtedly and quickly fading away with what he was witnessing now. The general feeling among the experts gathered was that of reverent excitement from finding something akin to a lost civilization.

Ganondorf beckoned for his robed friend to come over to the golden door. When he came near, the tall multi-billionaire spoke, calling the man by name. "Agahnim, we finally found it."

"Indeed we have," Ganondorf's friend agreed. "The last King of Hyrule was thorough in hiding the Triforce, but it couldn't stay hidden forever."

"My faithful wizard, today our search will finally be over. With the Triforce in hand once more, I can just say the word, and the world will belong to us. Open the door, friend."

"With pleasure, my liege." He reached out to the doorway and placed his palm upon the door. The team of excavators were oblivious to anything the rich business man and his kooky associate were up to. The structure groaned under a hidden mechanism, triggered to release once the door had been touched on its smooth surface. It slid slowly and smoothly up into the wall above, after which the symbol above the door came to life with a golden light.

The crew heard the sound of the large door opening, and they all turned as one to see the extraordinary sight. The triangular symbol above the door was now lighting up the entire chamber, bathing it in a warm golden light. A long hallway was revealed, lit with the same unexplainable golden glow as the symbol of the three triangles.

Ganondorf and Agahnim ventured in first, followed by their crew. The air down in the unexplored regions of the pyramid hadn't stagnated as it had in the upper parts, as inexplicable as that was, and the stonework looked just as new as if it had been carved the day before. At the end of the hall was a stone altar, on top of which was a colorful, ornate box. It was about one and a half times the size of a sarcophagus, it's stone lid set flush with the container below it.

"Open it," commanded Ganondorf to the team of excavators piling into the new chamber.

"This feels like discovering the Ark of the Covenant," said the American professor excitedly. He was one of the first ones in place to uncover the lid.

"Don't drop it," warned Sokolov as they heaved the lid off the box. They slowly and carefully set it down next to the altar. Ganondorf rushed up, greedily pushed people aside, and looked inside the ancient container. Inside were various artifacts from the Kingdom of Hyrule: extravagant clothing, weapons of expert design, and something else in the corner of the box that glowed as if with an inner light. Ganondorf grabbed for it and pulled it free of its resting place.

"What is it?" asked the Russian as he attempted to get a good look at the object in Ganondorf's hands. What it appeared to be was nothing more than an equilateral triangle of solid gold, much like one of the three displayed above the door in the previous chamber...except that, unlike actual gold, this pulsed with an inner light.

"Oh no," said Agahnim as he took a sharp breath. Something was horribly amiss.

Ganondorf was clearly not happy with the discovery, despite the contagious enthusiasm of the others in the chamber with him. His face contorted into a look of outrage, and then disgust.

"Nooooooo!" he bellowed. His deep voice resounded throughout the underground chamber and the excavators cowered in fear and surprise. "Where's the rest of it?" he demanded to no one in particular as he pounded his large fist against the edge of the stone box. "Where are the other two pieces?" The piece in his hands began to glow a bright reddish hue as opposed to its normally golden color. It became even brighter, almost blindingly so, and then it was gone, having vanished from sight. On the back of Ganondorf's bare, right hand appeared a symbol of the three triangles. The newly-created mark on his skin glowed bright gold, an effect of the artifact that had melded with him.

Just then, the entire structure began to rumble around them; pieces of the walls fell down and shattered when they impacted the ground. There were pillars holding up the ceiling of the chamber began to topple due to the shaking structure around them, the ceiling caving in as it lost its support. A brief scream was heard from Smith as a giant portion of the ceiling fell down on top of him, crushing him instantaneously. The remaining three excavators scrambled for the hallway in an attempt to escape, but they inevitably met the same fate as their flattened colleague. What was once the ceiling was now strewn about the floor, having killed and trapped everyone now beneath the rubble. Only two figures remained untouched at the stone box.

Agahnim didn't waste another second. He reached out, took hold of Ganondorf's shoulder, and quickly cast a spell that would warp him and his master away from the ruins of the pyramid. With that they were gone, safely miles away from the disaster area.

Ganondorf's hand stopped glowing, and he fell to his knees, feeling extremely drained from the recent event. They had appeared on a deserted island.

"Where are we?" queried Ganondorf through ragged breaths.

Agahnim paced a few meters away from Ganondorf and said, "My private island in the middle of the Mediterranean. I come here whenever I need some alone time...to clear my head." Ganondorf seemed unimpressed, but he seemed to be calming down. Agahnim chanced to ask, "It's just the Triforce of Power, isn't it?

Ganondorf scowled before replying. "Yes...it is. Am I forever doomed to never obtain the full relic?" His words resonated with the agony of many centuries of trying to obtain the full might that the complete Triforce offered. On numerous occasions he succeeded in stealing only pieces away from the Royal Family of Hyrule, and most often it was the Triforce of Power, which he once again possessed.

In his plaintive anger he punched the ground mightily, which caused an explosion of sand and rocks to fly high into the air above him. Agahnim quickly cast a magical barrier around himself as the debris started to rain down, allowing the small pieces to avoid contact with him and to bounce off of it and back to the ground. He was apprehensive of small, foreign objects irritating his skin if they got lodged underneath his thick red robes.

"Then we'll just have to continue our search," said the wizard wistfully. "If the King of Hyrule didn't place the full Triforce in the chamber under that pyramid, then perhaps he left the other two with people he could trust. I can almost guarantee you that someone in his own bloodline will have possession of one of them."

Ganondorf's breathing slowed to a steady rhythm while he pondered the words of Agahnim. Indeed, tracking down the remnants of the Royal Family's members would have to be his next objective. If they were to have any of the pieces with them, it would be the Triforce of Wisdom, as it was customarily passed down from generation to generation of royalty if it was ever in a split condition such as it currently was. "And what of the other?" asked Ganondorf in a low growl. The other he referred to would be the Triforce of Courage.

After a moment's thought, Agahnim suggested, "Hidden with someone very close to the Royal Family, I'm sure. Most likely another descendant of Hyrule's remnants, and someone of nobility, just like them."

"Then we track down Hyrule's royal and noble descendants and crush them—to take back what is rightfully mine, what has been denied me since I first realized it was my destiny to claim it. I've waited this long...a little while longer will seem but an instant to me." He stood back up and looked down to the golden mark on his hand. "This morsel of power will sate my appetite until I can have the entire Triforce."

_**A/N: **Good suggestions from Seldavia for the prologue. I used them all...you readers are so lucky she's my beta for this fic._


	2. Chapter 1: Meeting Destiny

_**Chapter One: Meeting Destiny**_

By Sparty

The corridor was dimly lit, the few lights around the boy causing shadows to play across the widely-placed walls like dancing ghosts. At the far end of the large hall was his destination: an ominous door that was six times his own height. He approached it and beheld that its silvery framework reflected his image many, many times over, like broken pieces of a mirror. He reached out to push the door open, but just before he made contact it began to swing inward as if it moved by a will all its own. After it opened he was able to gaze into the chamber ahead. It was darker past the doorway than the corridor had been, and as he stepped past it he could hear the large door slam shut behind him; he was trapped inside with no turning back.

He wielded a medieval-looking bow and held it firmly in leather-clad hands as he searched for his quarry. His eyes scanned the dark room's interior and found what appeared to be a desk, albeit larger and longer than any desk he had ever seen. Behind that was a window spanning across the length of the wall that looked out upon New York City. It was the middle of the day, but somehow the room retained its dark features. His eyes adjusted and he saw a figure standing behind the desk, tall and dark, his gaze turned away from Link. He put an arrow to his bow and pulled back, ready to kill this mysterious figure.

It was strange being here. He didn't even know where "here" was, much less why he was using a bow and arrow, a weapon he had never wielded before in his life. He didn't know what he expected to accomplish here, nor why he was even considering taking another man's life. He lowered his bow, dropped it to the ground, and heard the resounding clatter of wood on marble as gravity brought it to the floor. In that instant the man turned around, his face silhouetted darkly by the bright window behind him. The tall man laughed, seemingly at the boy's inadequacy, then rushed towards him with blinding speed. He cleared the desk in one bound and overtook the youth before he could even blink. The world went dark, and he was lost, perhaps forever.

His perceptions must have been playing tricks on him, for now he was in a lighted area, and there was no dark man. But as he looked around him, he could see that he was high above the city; the traffic in the street far below looked like little toy cars. That's when a gut-wrenching realization jarred him from any thoughts of tranquility—he was falling. He noticed that there was shattered glass all around, falling at the same pace as himself. He figured that he must have been flung through the window in the dark room, thrown to an untimely death. He had no wish to die yet, but all the same he remained calm.

_I've experienced this before_, he thought to himself as he fell. _Many times before. I never get past this part before waking up. _The ground was rushing up to meet him quickly, and the cars were looking more real the closer he came to the surface of the earth. _Yup, it's time to wake up._

* * *

Link awoke in a cold sweat, his long blond hair stuck to his face. He groaned loudly when he glanced over at the digital clock on his night stand: 12:33 P.M.

_Saturday afternoon already, _he thought._ Great, I just slept half the day away, and my nightmares are getting more and more frequent. _He got up in a daze and made his way down the hall to the bathroom. _Shower_, he thought, as it was the only thing on his mind at the moment. He stood under the hot stream of water for a good fifteen minutes before he felt ready to show his face to the world again.

_At least I don't have a hangover. _The youth was thankful that he had slept as long as he did. The night before he had stayed out till three in the morning because his friend Steve was hosting a party at his house. Steve's parents had gone for the weekend, the perfect opportunity to break out the booze with which all the underage idiots in attendance could go crazy. Not that all the people showing up to Steve's house had been part of the original plan.

At first he thought it would just be him and few friends hanging out. A week from then they were going to graduate from high school, so they felt the need to celebrate that fact. Of course, when there's a party with alcohol, word gets out. Five minutes after the start of the party, people started pouring in with all kinds of hard liquor and beer. The few initial friends, apprehensive at first, loosened up after a few drinks, deciding it best to just roll with the situation. No need to get their panties in a wad over a few crazy house guests...right?

Link remembered crazy was exactly how things had gone. Sure, he wasn't the most mellow of guys in school, a little cocksure and headstrong, so even he went a little wild with the drinking. He justified his actions by telling himself himself that going all out with his friends seemed the way to kick off the coming graduation.

He (vaguely) recalled challenging his friend Steve to a drinking match: double shots of tequila. He hadn't ever tried the stuff before, and, boy, he wished that he hadn't. It tasted horrible and burned the entire way down his throat. He had thought to himself, _Damn, I should've stuck with beer._ The challenge continued on until about the sixth double shot. He had no idea who had been the victor, nor did he care at the moment.

Link had been so entirely wasted that the rest of the party was a blur to him. He did, however, remember that a blond girl that had arrived a little later had shown a little interest in him. He was sure she had been beautiful (his alcohol-induced double-vision aside), and he had been a perfect gentleman to her (as much as his total inebriation allowed him to be). Of course, falling over while simply talking to her and dancing drunkenly had been part of his gentlemanly act towards her. _Smooth_, he thought bitterly to himself. _At least I can hope she doesn't remember me...in fact, let's just hope she never sees me again._

He figured that he must have passed out soon after that. He awakened to find himself on the floor between the coffee table and the couch of Steve's living room, and the people on the couch were using his body as a foot rest. Though by the time he had come to, most of the guests had already left the party. He had gone to find Steve, and was told by another friend, Nick, that Steve and some totally hot chick had been in the master bedroom for the past few hours. Figured. Link told Nick to relay to Steve later that he was going to head home and use his own bed instead of the living room floor to sleep on. After that he stumbled his way out of the house.

He and Steve lived right down the street from each other, so it hadn't taken him long to make it back to his own place. He threw up once along the way, right into one of his neighbor's bushes, but he made sure beforehand that it was the neighbor that everyone disliked. _Take that, Mr. Peterson, you old grouch_, he thought glibly on his lonely walk back to his house.

He traveled back to his room, got dressed in some jeans and a faded green t-shirt, put on some socks and shoes, then moved from there to the kitchen. He was greeted by his foster father who was sitting at the dining room table. Since it was Saturday, he was home for the day and was still loafing around in his bathrobe, blue pajama pants on underneath. "Late night?" the heavy-set man queried from behind a newspaper.

Link set to work making himself a breakfast smoothie and fixing up a bowl of cereal. He knew full well that breakfast hours were long over, but after having just woken up, breakfast food sounded great to him. "Yeah, Steve and I had a lot of planning to do," he lied.

Charles, Link's foster father, raised an eye over the top of the newspaper. "Oh, more planning? On a Friday night?" Link held his breath, waited for the hammer to fall, then let it out as his foster father just shrugged complacently. "Seems planning's the only thing you two ever do nowadays."

Link, a little less tense, dropped two fully peeled bananas into a little milk, the covered and turned on the mixer. "You know, we plan on getting ourselves a place right out of high school."

"Yes, so you've told Samantha and me." He chuckled and asked, "Is it really that bad living here with us?"

Link continued blending his drink. "Hey, I never said that," he replied defensively. "I'm just tired of the foster life, y'know? It's time I got out on my own two feet and got out of your hair. It's time for me to make my own...what's a good word for this...well, my own _destiny_.Yeah."

Charles looked back at what he was reading in the newspaper. "It's time I made my own destiny too, but, for the time being, I'll just have to settle for what I've got."

Samantha came in from the laundry room and smiled as she saw Link. She was the same age as Charles but hadn't put on any weight like he had, which was probably due to the fact that she did all the cleaning around the house while Charles just ate her cooking and read his newspapers and books. "Good afternoon, sweetheart."

"Good afternoon," replied Charles from behind his newspaper but kept his eyes glued to what he was reading.

"I didn't mean _you,_" she huffed, playfully slapping at her husband's arm. "I was talking to Link."

Link groaned as he poured milk into his cereal. "Ugh, you know I don't like being called sweetheart." She pinched his cheek, and he in turn tried his best to bat her away.

"Well, I can't help it if you are what you are, Link."

Charles looked up expectantly from his paper at his wife. "And what about me? When do _I _get to be your sweetheart?"

She went over and snatched the newspaper right out of his hands, then said, "Sweetheart? You're lucky if I even call you by your first name. You're my lazy bum is what you are."

Charles merely laughed, grabbed a spare paper from underneath his chair, and went right back to what he was reading. "Oh well," he said nonchalantly. "If you don't appreciate what I do for you then at least I know the news won't judge me."

Link rolled his eyes and took his drink and cereal over to the table. Life was definitely interesting in the home of Charles and Samantha. They would fight over the most ridiculous things; however, at the same time, they never yelled at each other. The tension that existed was more subtle, yet one could see that they were still happily married. They had never had children of their own, but they had fostered four, Link being their last. The third one had only just moved out two years earlier, and that had been the very day of her high school graduation. Link felt kind of guilty doing the same thing to these people, but he had already made up his mind. He was determined to visit often if he could, but perhaps that was only wishful thinking on his part.

The neighborhood he lived in was one of the nicer suburbs of New York, and the school he went to was relatively decent as well. Most of his better memories had been from this place. All in all, not a bad end to his life of foster care.

"College."

Link fumbled with his spoon then glanced up to see Charles looking at him over the top of his newspaper. "Huh?" he mumbled through a mouth full of cereal.

"I said 'college', Link. Samantha and I have been thinking a bit, and we believe that you should go to college."

Link looked back to his food. "I know it's a good idea, but I think Steve and I are going to be just fine."

"Yes, you've told me that before, but I think you could go farther if you stayed here and went to the university. You have a sports scholarship after all—you should take it. We'll help you get a loan...really, whatever you can't afford, we'll pay the difference. Besides, we know you've been happier here than in any other place you've been in."

"I know, I know," Link said, a little annoyed. "But we've been over this about a million times. I want to be able to make it on my own. I want to prove it to myself that I can do this. Maybe I'll eventually go to college, but I'd like to get started fast in life. I think Steve and I have a good plan for that to happen."

"So, what's your big plan then? Is it this real-estate business that you've been talking about?"

Link nodded as he chewed a mouthful of cereal. "Yeah...property value can rise as time goes by."

"Or, if you're not careful and mindful, it can depreciate pretty quickly."

"Well, whether it does one or the other, I think we can make a pretty big return by fixing up old properties and selling them for their new value."

"That's pretty ambitious, especially for someone right out of high school, Link. You also don't have any experience in this."

Link sighed. "I know I don't have any experience, but Steve does. He has connections in the city, so we won't be hung out to dry right off the bat."

"Just consider what I'm saying. If this thing with Steve doesn't take off you can always come back to stay with us, and then you can start the fall semester."

Link glared at his foster father. "C'mon, are you serious? You really think I'm going to give up on my dreams after just one summer?"

Charles put down the paper and held his hands up defensively. "All I really want you to do is consider your options, that's all."

"Yeah, well I've considered them quite a bit, and I think my plans are the only things that'll get me out of this hole quicker than anything else you have to offer."

"Hole?" Charles' gaze was firm, but he seemed a bit hurt at Link's constant rebuttals. Link stopped eating, grabbed his dishes, and took them over to the sink.

"Look," said the youth, "I'm going to take off for a bit today and hit up the gym." Link went to his room, grabbed his gym clothes, and took off out the door, heading for the fitness center a few blocks down.

"Hey!" Samantha called after him. "You need to apologize to Charles!" But he was already too far away to hear.

Charles returned to his newspaper, but he couldn't focus on what he was reading; he was far too worried about the future of the child that he and his wife had come to think of as a son. He knew the boy was meant for greater things than he gave himself credit for; perhaps foster care had skewed his view on reality and he didn't realize his true potential in life.

He nodded at the reassuring hand that his wife placed on his shoulder. "I'll talk with him again when he gets back," he told her.

"I know you will. One day, that boy will listen...one way or another. And he'll thank us in the end, I know it."

"Yeah...I know it too."

* * *

"Eighteen...nineteen...twenty!" Link sweat heavily, counting the reps he performed, then, finishing up, he placed the weights back up on the rack of the benchpress. He picked up his sports bottle from the floor beside the bench and took a quick swig of the cool, refreshing water. He could bench press just a little over his own weight of 165 pounds, and he could lift twice that amount when he did his leg workout.

He was feeling progressively better as he worked his tired body. He was a little dehydrated from all the drinking he had done the night before, but he couldn't let the party hinder his workout routine. Besides, today he felt he truly needed it. It was becoming a great way to help get his mind off of what his foster father had just talked to him about. He didn't know what he wanted to ultimately do with his life, but he knew that he wanted to be able to have his own place with no restrictions—to go wherever he wanted with no limitations.

For the next half hour he got on one of the treadmills. He thought of the plans that he and Steve had come up with—how they planned to go into business together right after graduation. Steve had college money from his parents, but he had figured that he could put it to better use for the first few years with Link as his partner. They projected that they could make quite a return on the profits, and Steve would then have enough money to pay his own way through college, as well as pay his parents back. He would also be aiding Link to get a foothold in life; the foster agency had pushed him from one home to another his entire life, after all.

The boys' plan was one of success, and rising up in the world was exactly what Link wanted to do. Foster kids were considered nobodies because they usually didn't have pasts that they could fall back on. Link wanted a future though, and working hard for it was the only thing that made sense to him.

He stepped off the treadmill, grabbed his water bottle, then drank the rest of it down in one go. He had worked hard and felt much better, having nearly forgotten all about the talk with his foster father by then. On his way to the locker rooms he glanced at one of the television screens set up for the treadmill users. He recognized the image being shown of a tall, olive-skinned, red-haired, bearded man in a business suit. CNN was doing another report on the man known as Ganondorf Dragmire and not for the first time either.

The man was a multi-billionaire with a company whose research and development department had a bigger budget than the entire United States Air Force. Little was known of the man's past, except that he began as a foreign investor who had moved to the U.S. during the middle of the Cold War. Many spoke rumors of his involvement with the government, aiding them with top-secret weapons research, which is why he received citizenship so fast after arriving.

Several years ago the head of a successful scientific research industry had died, and for some strange but lucky mistake in paperwork, Ganondorf had received everything the company possessed. He began to run the business, spearheading the operations himself with a few close associates and, in the process, had completely changed the company from the ground up, all seemingly for the better.

Many claimed that he had unlawfully taken over the company, but with his wealth he was able to hire the best lawyers in the nation to defend his position in court, which made it difficult to oust this mystery man from his corporate high chair. He eventually became the richest man in the world within the first four years of becoming the company's CEO. His take-over complete, he reshaped the institution into something hardly resembling its former self, even to the point of renaming it Dragmire Industriesafter himself.

The way that current events portrayed this powerful figurehead was as if he was the only thing ever worth talking about, which really wasn't far from the truth. Link sometimes wondered if Ganondorf didn't also own the media or if they were merely being bribed to focus a huge bulk of their time and resources towards relating Ganondorf's life story. As for his stories, most were primarily about how his team of brilliant and well-paid scientists were making breakthroughs in the known sciences of the world. In this particular newscast Dragmire Industries had produced a device that could take out a tank with little more than highly-focused sound waves, and they expected it to be out on the open market within the next couple months. There were more inventions, but Mr. Dragmire never divulged the secret of how his men had developed the groundbreaking technology needed to create them.

Indeed, he was a mystery man through and through. It was as though he was guided by some hidden power, something that gave him the fuel for his secret agenda of reshaping the world to his eccentric design.

After staring at the new story for a few more moments, Link thought to himself, _Yeah, Steve and __I will make it big like that one day. We'll work and expand until we're not just in New York, but maybe the world. We may even show that Ganondorf guy a thing or two. _He continued on his way to the locker room for a brief shower and change of clothes.

* * *

Link walked through his neighborhood in the direction of his house, his bag of sweaty gym clothes held in his left hand. The suburbs of New York City were definitely nice, especially with the approaching summer season, but Link always thought of eventually moving somewhere far from New York, maybe to the country or someplace other than the United States...like Japan. Though he was somewhat the jock type in High School, his thoughts always wandered to think fantastical thoughts of foreign lands in need of adventurers, wielding guns and swords, who managed to take on the world and win each time.

_Heh, like Indiana Jones,_ he thought to himself, smiling and thinking what he'd look like with a lion-taming whip. He didn't know why, but he always enjoyed imagining himself as the bold hero, someone who beat all odds and saved the damsel in distress, eager to impress her with his prowess and win her affection _If life were more like a fairy-tale or action movie then I would totally step in line for the part of brave hero and become a real-life James Bond or something._

As he turned down the street into his neighborhood he saw a long, jet black, stretch limousine moving silently down the street towards him from the direction of his house. He wondered to himself what a limousine of this caliber could be doing in his neighborhood. There were no extremely rich families living here (wealthy, yes, but not movie-star rich), so Link watched as it drew closer to him, his mind having drawn a blank as to who it could possibly be. What was most surprising to him was that the limousine didn't pass him by, but instead slowed down and stopped right next to him.

The darkly-tinted window of the passenger cabin slid noiselessly down, and a beautiful girl with long blond hair looked out the open window at him. She looked to be about Link's age, and, by the way she was dressed, he could tell that she didn't belong in this part of town. Her expensive clothing definitely spoke of a wealthy background, and her posture told him of years of etiquette training. And...something about her seemed oddly familiar to him.

After she looked at him for almost ten seconds Link couldn't stand the awkward silence anymore. To break the quiet he said, a bit embarrassed, "Uh, are you guys lost? I can help you...if you want, that is...I mean, not that you..."

Cutting him off, she said with a smile, "Nice to meet you again, Link. It seems you've sobered up finally."

Link shook his head and laughed, really to himself mostly. Of course he had seen this girl before; she had been the beautiful blonde at the party, and, as luck would have it, it seemed she was looking for _him_! He almost entertained the thought that he might be in a dream, but since her image didn't distort or fade away, he knew that what he was seeing was the real deal.

"The party!" he exclaimed. "After you left I thought I'd never see you again!" Not a lie.

The girl laughed and said, "Well, I couldn't wait to see _you_ again. So what are you waiting for? Get in here with us; we have a lot to talk about."

Link grinned to himself. She had just told him to get in the limousine with her. Was this his chance to get with someone like _her?_ This was too big to pass up, and, if he was late for dinner, he figured that somehow his foster parents would learn to understand.

The driver had gotten out of the limo and was now opening the door for Link. "Don't mind if I do, sir," the cocky teenager said to the driver as he slid past him into the dark interior of the car, but not before throwing the man a mock salute. His eyes soon adjusted to the dark, allowing him to get a good look at what he was dealing with. He sat facing the girl from the party, and to her side was a woman who was easily over fifty or sixty. The woman had a very ancient yet regal look about her, but, though she appeared extremely old, she also seemed to be in good health. She sat tall and upright, and a crisp grin tugged at the edge of her mouth as if she knew something that only she was privy to. He looked back to the girl who was gazing intently at him. The look she gave him was a tad bit unnerving. It gave him the feeling that she thought he was he last guy on earth, and she had just found him after twenty years of hard looking.

He attempted a grin, succeeded, then said, "So what's with the fancy getup? It's like you're royalty...and this lady here is, what, your chaperon, right? But even with granny here, I'm really glad to see you again. I feel a lot better now that I know for sure that you were smoking hot last night like I thought you were, cause, you see, I was too drunk to really be certain."

"Yes," spoke the elderly woman for the first time. Her husky voice and condescending tone caused Link to wince a little. "You remember her beauty yet I'm sure you were too intoxicated to remember what her name was."

Link paused for a second and thought hard. Of course he didn't remember her name; he had been too drunk to remember much of anything from the night before. He took a shot in the dark. "Christine, right? Prettiest name I ever heard." He winced again as the old woman frowned at him.

"Relax," the girl said. She put a slight, elegantly-manicured hand on his knee. He felt shock waves of pure excitement shoot through him as her hand made contact. "I never did tell you my name last night, and I should warn you that my handmaid Impera likes to put people on the spot from time to time. It's one of the methods she used in my princess training, but she still gets me with it sometimes. As for my name," she said while she composed herself, took her hand from Link, then placed it on her chest, "I'm Zelda, princess of the Royal Family of Hyrule."

So she _was_ royalty, though Link had never heard of a place called Hyrule. _What have I just stumbled upon? _Link's head was swimming, and the shore was far away.

"Link," said Zelda, his train of thought broken. She reached out her right palm towards him. "I need you to give me your hand."

"Uh...sure. With pleasure, princess," he replied, a bit hesitant at first, but then he eagerly put his hand in hers, flashing her a quick grin as he did. "I gotta tell you that you'll find me to be a lot like a prince, just without the kingdom and all...eh?" He started to feel a strange tingly sensation in the hand that he had offered to Zelda. The limousine's interior began to brighten with a golden light, and an unfamiliar gold symbol in the shape of a triangle subtly appeared on the back of his proffered hand. The same happened for Zelda's.

"Link," said Impera, her voice very somber. "You and Zelda, though from two very different ends of society, share a similar destiny."

Link laughed apprehensively; magic tricks didn't convince him that easy. Jokingly he said, "Okay, we've got glowing hands and destinies. Is this going to be like one of those arranged marriages?" Then, with a voice nearing a whisper, he asked, "Is she going to marry us right here?" He gestured over to Impera, and the old woman gave the youth a look that made her seem about ready to boot Link out of the car.

"Just hear her out," said Zelda, suddenly very serious. "Strange as this may seem, Impera is telling you the truth. You and I have always been connected by destiny. The time was right to seek you out and bring you out of hiding. We are going to need your help. You need training. You need to fight."

Link snapped his hand back from Zelda, and looked warily at the two people sitting across from him. The symbol on his hand faded somewhat, but a faint gold outline remained. "Okay, the weird factor was already high enough, but now you're both talking crazy. Or maybe _I'm_ just going crazy. Either way, _this is crazy_!" He folded his arms in front of his chest. "Help you? Me, become a fighter? And what do you mean that I'm being brought out of hiding? If anything, I've been made pretty public by the damn foster agency. Seven different homes have had a taste of me, so I guess hiding in one spot wasn't really my specialty, your highnessness."

Zelda pouted a little at his purposeful mispronunciation of the word 'highness'. "Yes, you _were_ in hiding," interjected Impera. "You were because _we_ put you in that foster agency. You were safely anonymous after your true parents met their untimely demise at the hands of Ganondorf Dragmire."

Link's head perked up a bit when she spoke the rich billionaire's name in conjunction with mention of his birth parents. _Who the hell _are_ these people? What do they know about my parents? _It was all he could do to hide his intrigue. Besides, he had always yearned for adventure, weird as that sounds for a boy approaching adulthood—what better chance than what these women were offering him?

Yeah. Craziness.

Impera continued. "We even changed your name to Linus. It's quite a mystery to us how your true name, Link, somehow stayed with you, but I'm willing to chalk it up to fate; you don't realize it, but it's no coincidence that you are named thus." The youth quirked his eyebrows a bit at this. Link was not even his true name but rather a nickname that he had always been called for some reason. His real name was Linus Russell, but, in his opinion, Link sounded much better (Linus? Barf!), so it's what eventually stuck.

"Link," continued the old woman, "if you are to believe what we are telling you, then you would know that you are a child of destiny. Your namesake is of great importance; a great many of the chosen heroes of Hyrule have been known by that name. Fate is very real, young man, and you would be a fool to disregard it."

Link frowned hard. "Disregard fate? Hey, lady, fate has disregarded _me_, or have you not heard of the crazy life I've had to lead? If you guys had custody of me at one point then why didn't you keep me and raise me like you raised Zelda here?" As much as he admired the girl for how beautiful she was, he didn't hesitate now to wildly gesticulate at her and throw her contemptuous looks. "I could have avoided all the pain and hardship that, as it turns out, _you _caused for me! Don't try to tell me about fate. After I graduate next week, I'll make my own destiny. Fate will just have to kiss my skinny white ass!" Link opened the door to the limo to get out.

"Where are you going?" demanded Zelda empirically. The tone didn't faze Link in the least, but he did peer back into the limousine's interior.

"I'm going to leave this clown car behind and get on with the real world. You're hot, Zelda, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be."

"But your training," she protested hotly. He slowly retracted his head back outside when Zelda shouted, "Look, Link!" He gave another peek inside just as from beneath the car seat Zelda produced a sword with an intricate hilt, its blade covered by a scabbard of exquisite craftsmanship. "It was your great grandfather's sword. It...belongs to you now."

Link just shook his head. "I don't think a sword will do me much good in New York. A gun would probably be a better gift for a place like this, y'know?" He sighed. "I've got plans for my life, and I intend carry them out. Going on some kooky quest to redeem my lost heritage isn't what I had in mind."

_You're not interested in a quest? Oh, how you must disappoint yourself. You should realize that you're a horrible liar, Link. _It was Impera's voice, but it hadn't come from her lips. Rather it almost seemed to originate from inside Link's own head. _And now your mouth is hanging open. Have some decency and shut it, young man._ He snapped his jaw shut, then realized he had just given away that he had heard the old woman speak in his mind. She nodded slowly at him. "Ancient magic, Link," she offered, with that hint of a smile that he had seen on her when he had first gotten into the limo. He stepped back inside and sat down, closing the limo door behind him.

"You just called me a liar, old woman," accused Link with a glare, trying to ignore the fact that someone had just used telepathy. Anything to keep his head from spinning off his shoulders.

Zelda looked aghast at Impera. "You did _what?_"

"Well he _is_," she replied tersely and folded her hands in her lap. "Princess, you know that I can use my powers to read the thoughts of others, and just before we came upon him in the street he was thinking of how he would love nothing more than to go adventuring and impress the fair maiden for a token of her affection." She looked at Link and continued. "Your refusal to embrace your own destiny goes against the feelings of your heart. That is what makes you a liar, for you have lied to yourself. This is all strange new information for you, but you must know that we speak the truth, as I am also sure that you are curious to know more."

After a moment of silence Link grabbed his ancestor's sword out of Zelda's hands. "I'll see what you're all about. Just because I'm a little unsure (and I am)," he said pointedly towards Impera, "doesn't mean that I'm not a bit curious."

"Yes," said Zelda, thoughtful for a moment. "You were pretty curious last night too, if I remember: curious to see if I would make out with you. You promised that you would down a shot every time I said no to you. It was kind of funny when you excused yourself to run off to the bathroom after about your fourth one."

Link suddenly looked embarrassed. "Hey, it was the sixth one, and I only went in there because I heard my friend Steve was doing something funny...with...well, what were you doing at the party anyway? You don't seem the type to go to places like that. I don't think you even had a drink of anything."

Zelda laughed again. "No, but it was great fun. You were great company despite how ridiculous you were acting. Besides, I wasn't there for the party itself; I was actually hoping that I'd be able to meet you. A friend from our resistance group has a contact at your high school, and we heard that you would be at the party that night. I...wanted to meet you, to try and get to know you."

"You could have made out with me," he said to her with a grin. "That's one way to get to know me."

She winked at him and replied, "We'll see."

Impera coughed conspicuously, which caused eyes to turn on her. "Oh," she smoothly explained, "that gym bag is just making it a little hard to breathe." Zelda wrinkled her nose but said nothing. Link just groaned and put his head in his hands, a little embarrassed.

The limousine took off, ferrying them to a world completely different from the one that Link had grown to know. Fate was indeed working its strings as a puppeteer would put on a show, and the first act was just beginning.

_**A/N:** The clean up of this story has been a bit frustrating, but I feel better knowing that a decent version will now be available. Tell me what you thought of this chapter, and expect a little action in the next._

_Also, thanks goes to Windblown Wanderer for some suggestions to help the flow of the narrative._

_More recently, many thanks should go to Seldavia for offering her input as a beta. Her most recent words of wisdom are the about the "no no" that is the Info Dump. Slowly easing one's way into exposition is a much more effective and enjoyable method of getting information to the reader, and I tend to agree._


	3. Chapter 2: Reality Meets Crazy

_**A/N: **This chapter was Erico's first contribution to the story, and while I've tried to preserve elements of his writing style and story-telling, I've ended up having to add new anecdotes or changing events to fit the slightly-altered direction of the rewrite._

_**Chapter Two: Reality Meets Crazy**_

By Erico

A lone figure stood silhouetted against an expansive window pane, on the highest floor of a well-known corporate headquarters. The wide room was darkened, the only illumination coming from the currently-tinted windows that looked over the skyline of New York City. If one were to gaze through the glass he or she would find it hard to believe that it was well into the afternoon and not dark out at all.

The tall red-headed man stood in what he oft referred to as his office. It could very well have been that, but its appearance belied what it truly was—his throne room. The chamber had a high ceiling, and the walls curved around very gradually, causing the room's shape to be a stretched oval. The desk in its center was custom-made, elongated to be nearly thirty feet from end to end. The only items upon its jet black, polished surface were a sleek computer monitor, its keyboard only accessible from the enormous leather swivel chair behind the desk, a black and gold-trimmed pen, and a silver-handled phone inlaid into the desktop. The desk itself was set upon what could only be described as a pedestal, and the entire construction had the ability to lower into the floor below it, leaving only the large, black leather-bound, steel-studded chair to gaze out over the expansive chamber. Four angular, leather seats were set in front of it, placed on the ground level.

The remainder of the enormous office was decorated with relics of the past: swords of exquisite craftsmanship hung from racks on the walls, ancient carvings and statues were lined up upon many different stands, and even a fearsome trident of considerable size was displayed lying horizontally just above the tall double doors, which served as the entrance into the large chamber. However, the most impressive artifact of them all was the pipe organ placed in a sizable niche in the wall, far to the right of the entryway. Its owner would play it from time to time, the tunes somber and ominous. It was music from a different age...from a different world.

The building that housed this man's office was a skyscraper that rivaled even the famed Empire State Building in size. However, its architecture was considered something of a blight upon New York City. Certainly, its dark appearance and spiraling tower clashed with much of the otherwise colorful and metropolitan styles that dotted the Big Apple, but seeing as many of the buildings in the Financial District were old and decidedly ugly too, its appearance wasn't the biggest issue. No, the historic value of the many buildings that had to be torn down to give this monstrosity room was what enraged a good many people. Truly, the only reason that the Mayor had allowed it to be built was due to the various donations and monetary contributions that the building's owner had given to the city.

The olive-skinned man standing by the window was none other than Ganondorf Dragmire, CEO of the worldwide conglomerate Dragmire Industries. He was dressed in his usual dark business suit, but since it was the later in the afternoon, business hours having ended some time before, he chose rather to not wear a tie; instead, he left the first few buttons of his dark red dress shirt undone beneath his black pinstripe suit coat. His long, red hair was done in a ponytail, pulled back to reveal the sharp features of his green-tinted dark face. His nose was long and protruding, and his red eyebrows large and bushy. He kept a trim beard that ran along his jaw line from one side of his face to the other, and a gold earring was apparent in his left ear.

His fingers were heavily bejeweled, but those were mere trinkets compared to the worth of the triangular golden mark upon his right hand. It consisted of three equilateral triangles, the top of which was a deeper gold than the two below it.

A man walked into the room; he was dressed in a black suit, dark shoes, white gloves and a full head mask. This was merely a disguise meant to fool any normal person who would look at him. Underneath the suit, a monster lurked.

"Sir?" the suited man asked in a raspy voice.

The tall man by the window turned slightly, barely acknowledging the figure that had entered his office—no, his chamber; his mouth curled into a sneer. Looking the man up and down, he nodded his head. "Yes?"

The other man's voice was hollow and empty, but he still spoke. "We've located the child of destiny that you've been searching for. But…."

Ganondorf's left eye twitched suddenly, and, as he turned to fully face the suited individual, he asked in a low voice, cutting him off as soon as he began, "But what?"

The other wheezed, then continued. "He was picked up by a limousine right after our discovery. We traced the vehicle and found that it belonged to the Royal Family of Hyrule, and….aaugh!" The man never finished his sentence, for a black blast of dark magic suddenly struck him, and his clothes were burned off. A hollow skeleton clattered to the ground, and an angered Ganondorf shook his head.

"Stalfos," he grumbled. "Always a pain to get them to do any real work around here." Ganondorf reached into his pocket and pulled out an intricate blackberry cell phone. He didn't even need to put the device up to his head, for the gold ring in his ear acted as more than just jewelry—it served as a short-ranged transceiver for the phone itself, one that he could listen from and talk through.

"Hello, Ingo?" Ganondorf's frown vanished into a smile as he forced himself to put on his happy face. If he didn't, his voice would remain angry. "Yes, Ingo. I have a mission for you and your men." The descendants of Hyrule's Royal Family had made their home just outside of New York City after the collapse of their once great nation and its disappearance from the face of the world. Once Ganondorf arrived and learned of their fate, he killed them off one by one, scouring their bloodline for the Triforce. He discovered its true fate twenty years earlier and gained only one part of it, the Triforce of Power. After painstakingly searching for the other two remaining parts, their locations were no longer a mystery to him. He knew that Zelda, the last known survivor of the Royal Family, was carrying a piece within her. Unfortunately she was under the protection of that accursed handmaid—nay, her bodyguard Impera.

Since his discovery of the Triforce of Power and the analysis of its power signature, and recently he had been able to create satellites that could relay an image to him of the exact locations of the remaining two pieces. All this time, they had both been right under his nose: one with the Royal Family, as he had known, but all attempts to attain that one had failed due to Impera's resourcefulness, and the other with a descendant of a line of heroes that had opposed him time and time again...he was surprised to see that such a person was still up and running around. He had set in motion a plan to confront Link and collect his piece of the Triforce. Having two Triforce pieces would make Ganondorf twice as powerful as any of Zelda's forces.

But Hyrule's last princess had gotten to the brat first.

He continued to speak with Ingo. "You see, there's this kid named Link... Yeah, I'll send the details later... Yes, take a few of my Stalfos, I don't care. Just don't fail me like all the others."

He hung up after giving Ingo a few final directions on what needed to happen. Ingo was out of town at the moment, taking a vacation in Australia. He wouldn't be back for another week, but Ganondorf could wait a little longer. Besides, he always relied on Ingo to do much of his...dirty work. Why change things up at the price of speed? How much power could some kid gain in a week without any previous formal training, anyway? Yes, Ingo would prevail, and the Triforce piece that Link held would be his at last.

* * *

"What's this place?" Link asked as they rolled to a halt in front of a very large, abandoned, redbrick building. It looked no different from the long row of similar structures that they had passed on their way down this section of Brooklyn.

Zelda turned around, her smile gone. "Ganondorf is a powerful man. His arms are long, and his eyes and ears are longer. We've been hiding out in here, seeing as he pursues us for one goal: to destroy us and take our most precious possessions."

Link scratched his head. "I don't quite like the man myself. I mean, you say he killed my birth parents, but...petty theft? C'mon, what kind of jewels do you think he's going to steal from you? I'm guessing the Hyrule Royal Family has got one hell of a treasure trove, am I right?"

"I suppose you could say that. I was referring more to our Triforces."

Link nodded and got out of the limo. He paused for a moment, kept the door open for Zelda and Impera, and said, "Wait. Triforces are _what_ exactly...?"

Impera gave Zelda one of her short grins. "You'd better show him again, your highness."

Link chuckled and ran a hand over the back of his neck. "Again? What was it that you showed me earlier that...?" He stopped in mid-sentence, having realized what it was that he was shown that could have been so precious to her. He checked the back of his right hand, and, sure enough, the mark that had appeared earlier was still there. "He's after our glowy tattoos? Sure, it's a great parlor trick, but what are you getting at? What's so special about a florescent birthmark?"

Zelda brushed Link's hand with her own, and, once again, the marks to lit up with a golden glow. "The Triforces, Link. They are very important relics. All will be explained in time, but for now, let's go inside." Link nodded, checked his blade, which was now strung across his backside, and then followed them into the building.

Inside, his eyes glazed over in wonder over what he saw. People were shouting war cries and charging at each other with full force. Many were armed with swords, and a few even carried shields on their other arm. It appeared as if they were dueling.

Zelda grabbed him by the arm and dragged him over to watch a pair of people train. "This building is a safe-haven for us from the outside world as well as from Ganondorf himself. My estate just outside the city was burned down by Ganondorf and his men, but this location is a much better choice for our resistance to assemble than something as conspicuous as my old mansion." She gestured to the people running around with weapons who were facing off against each other, executing a variety of fighting techniques. "This area is where we practice. If we are attacked, or when we go to war, we must be ready." She looked at him with her bright blue eyes. "You will be training with us here."

Link looked around, incredulity showing upon his wide-eyed face. "Alright, but how come I don't see anyone trying to use any guns? Swords and shields are bad ass and all, but what good will that do in a war? Ever heard of RPGs, M-16s, or even hand grenades?"

Zelda looked a little annoyed at him. "Well, if you want to face off against Ganondorf's magical minions with bullets, be my guest. Don't expect much of an effect though, compared to what a good sword can accomplish."

"I'd still rest a little easier with a rifle by my side than learning to use this," grumbled Link, pulling out his ancestor's sword.

"Well, would ya feel a little easier if a gal like me taught ya how to use it?" A woman's southern-accented voice drew Link's attention to an approaching figure. His jaw dropped; she was just as stunning as Zelda. She had red hair, a well-built frame, two glittering sapphire eyes, and a smile that made his entire confidence and resolve melt away. Not to mention clothing that accented her curvature in such a way...

Link's mind ran away with itself, and he found he could not speak. The red-haired wonder giggled a bit, and a mildly annoyed Zelda could only watch as Link was falling all over himself in front her. She introduced them, hiding her irritation well. "Link…this is Mal. She is our transportation expert. Even if we don't rely on technology for weaponry, cars are still the fastest and most efficient way of getting around. Besides that, Mal's got a real way with anything that runs on wheels. She can drive it, fix it, and even make the loudest and largest of them purr like baby kittens. She's the best of the best." Link smiled broadly, and took Mal's hand, feeling overwhelmed by her presence, then bent down and to kiss it.

Mal giggled again and drew her hand back. "Aww…yer quite the lady-killer! So, Z, this here is Link, huh?" Zelda nodded, but now her irritation with the flirtatious woman had returned.

Zelda's eyes flashed towards Link, who was now stuck between the two women. She folded her arms in front of her and tapped her well-manicured fingers against her forearm. "I wonder. Why didn't you kiss my hand like that when you got in the limo with me?"

He grinned. "Oh-ho! Am I making her royal highness jealous?" If Zelda was, she wasn't about to show it. Link slicked back his golden locks and turned back to the redhead when the princess remained silent. "Mal, is she always like this around guys as cute as me?" Zelda shook her head and rolled her eyes, but still sent Link a smirk from her full lips. She turned and walked off to oversee a different training session a few meters off to the side, leaving Link with his new trainer. Mal finally nodded with a giggle and pulled a sword off of a nearby rack.

"Forget about Zelda for a second cause I was gonna teach you a little about the sword. Normally you can call me Mal, but when it comes to sparring...well, it's lady pain to you. But, hey, if you're anything like your ancestors then this oughta' feel _real _natural." Link brought his own sword up and felt it. It was heavy and carried weight. He was doubtful he could have managed it if he wasn't an avid athlete. "Well, you can hold it. That's good. Now, I want ya to go chop that there practice post to slivers before you and me...y'know...get down and dirty. Got it?"

"Down and dirty? With you?" Link grinned devilishly at the girl. "You bet!"

She playfully flicked a stray lock of hair out of her eyes and smiled knowingly at the young man's verbal advances. "Just show me what you've got, hero."

Link stared at the thick wooden post to where Mal was pointing. He squinted at it for a moment, then charged at it and with a powerful cry and brought his blade down upon it.

He nearly dropped his sword from the impact. Mal laughed a bit, and Link stopped and stared at what he had done, which was practically nothing. The post still stood tall, and to him it seemed to be laughing too. Link growled at it, and then gave it a horizontal slice. This time he found it to be more effective, for he had caused a neat notch in the side to appear. Link smiled smugly at it for a moment, and then he sat down. Two swings of the sword and already his arm was killing him.

"Cowboy up, Link," encouraged Mal. "A little pain ain't gonna hurt ya."

Link just sat there, shaking his head. "Well, maybe I'll take a rain check on that sparring match you promised me, Mal."

"Aw, did ya hear that, Z?"

Zelda had gone to check on something else for a moment, but she was just walking back over to where they were."So, how did you do, Link?"

Link looked up at Zelda, and then looked around. Everything was odd; everything was incredibly odd now. This whole Ganondorf thing…the whole mumbo jumbo spiel about him being chosen by destiny…the weird things Impera had done such as reading his mind…Link had had enough. Not even being royally drunk matched this, and he wanted out.

"Zelda…" began Link He started to rise, but stopped as he noticed that Zelda was smiling at him.

"Yes, Link?"

Link shook his head and straightened himself. Now she was trying to muddle it up even more with that crazy smile of hers! "Zelda, I hate to be the one to say it, but I think you're all freakin' nuts here. I mean, here you are, _accusing_ the richest and most powerful man in the world of being some family-jewels-thieving evil tyrant who, by the way, you're going to wage a war with using knives and sticks, while you're here walking around like some 'high and mighty protectors of the people'. Well, back in _my_ century, we have a name for people like you, sister." Link paused for a moment, then frowned and continued. "We call people like you crazy militants. I assume you know what went down at Waco? Well, I'm not gonna be around to have my ass waxed when the feds bust this party. So long, weirdos. I'm sure whatever you're taking must be some pretty good, high quality drugs...and I don't want any of it." Not getting the desired reaction from the people now watching him in his rant, he sighed and began to walk out.

"_Link!_ Wait…" Zelda yelled out, and Link turned, his face full of doubt and amusement.

Link shook his head. "What?"

Zelda stared at him for a moment, the fire in her eyes intense. She seemed to be pleading with him, but her silent pleas fell on hardened ears. Her face drooped, and she shook her head. "Nothing, nothing at all. Just go then. I'm sure whatever you have planned for yourself is more important than fate."

Link nodded vigorously. "Damn straight. Hey, if you guys are still around whenever I'm rich and famous…don't look me up. I already have enough bad influences to worry about. Besides that, my high school graduation is next week, and you know what?" He paused for dramatic effect. "None of you are invited!" Then he turned to Mal, gave her a half grin and said, "Well...maybe you are." With one last look over at everyone, who by then had stopped everything they were doing to hear Link's little tirade, he turned his back on Zelda and her people.

Link, the last in a long line of heroes, turned around and walked out of the building, leaving behind a force that they knew, without his help, would destroy them. Impera walked up to Zelda and shook her shoulders.

"Are you crazy?" she hissed. "He'll never come back! Ganondorf will crush us and finally win this war! He'll take your Triforce, and with Link out there on his own, his Triforce is fair game as well."

Zelda nodded sadly. "What good is a warrior without a warrior's heart? Perhaps the Triforce of Courage will lead Link to be the hero that I know he is. That time will come, Impera. We must not give up hope...we've planted a seed, but we now must wait for it to grow."

* * *

The limousine that had taken him to Zelda's hideout drove him home as well, but this time Link sat in the back all alone with no princess to chat with. He looked down at the sword that he was carrying in his hands and wondered what kind of a man his great grandfather might have been, if this even was the man's sword in the first place.

The limo dropped him off in front of his house, then sped away, gone in a moment just as if it had never even existed. The only proof of his encounter that day was his ancestor's sword, which he decided not to bring inside—there would be too many questions, and he lacked most of the answers. He took his sword and placed it in the bushes right in front of the house, hidden from view by anyone who wasn't especially looking for it.

After his graduation in a week, he decided he would recover the blade and take it with him to his new place, but he figured it would be fine in its temporary hiding spot for the next few days. He walked inside, his gym clothes in a duffel bag hanging off his shoulder, and found that he was just in time for dinner. Unfortunately, as much as he loved pork chops, he soon found that he couldn't eat. The events of the day were weighing heavily on his mind, so he excused himself from the table, claimed that he wasn't feeling too well, and went to his room to lie on his bed. Before he knew it, he was asleep, and the worries of the day seemed to wash away in that moment.

_**A/N: **Again, Windblown Wanderer was very helpful in pointing out some spots in the narrative that could be improved._

_More recently, of course, Seldavia through her beta work has offered some great insight for this chapter, and many necessary changes were made to keep suspension of disbelief at a minimum (strange to say that for a Fantasy fic)._

_Before I close out this note, I have to say that an honorable mention goes to Exodus5 for picking up on a rather obvious plothole in the first chapter. I appreciate readers like him and actually wish that more people were as honest about what they read, all so that the author can learn from mistakes and do better the next time around._

_Oh, the plothole? Meh, no need to drag it out into the notes. I'll just say that I believe I've already resolved it._


	4. Chapter 3: First Blood

_**Chapter Three: First Blood**_

By Erico

"Linus Russell," called out his Physics teacher, Mr. Edwards, from atop the podium at Link's high school graduation ceremony. He almost didn't recognize his real name, and nearly forgot to stand and go forward to receive his diploma from Mrs. Aldbery, the Principal. With a little nudge from his friend Steve, he shot up from his seat among his graduating class and walked forward to receive what to him was his ticket to freedom.

He passed by Mr. Edwards who was announcing everyone's names, having already innocently mispronounced about half of them, and walked up to the Principal. He froze for a second, one hand on the diploma and the other in Mrs. Aldbery's outstretched hand in a drawn-out handshake, making it so the cameras down below the podium could catch the moment. During the pose, his eyes ran across the crowd. He could see all his friends, most of which would be going off to college. And then there was also Steve, his best friend the entire time he had been with Charles and Samantha in their home. After the ceremony was over he would head home, pack up, and he and Steve would be moving into the city to their new apartment together.

In the very back of the sea of people attending the graduation, he could barely make it out, but he thought he caught a quick glimpse of long blond hair right next to a tall, elderly woman. Before he could look harder he was ushered off the stage and back to his seat. He sat up tall and turned around behind him to try and see if they were still there, but there was only a sea of navy blue graduation gowns all around him.

Steve bumped him, getting his attention. "Hey, what's the matter, man? Who are you looking for?"

Link turned back around in his seat and shrugged. "Thought I saw an old girlfriend, that's all."

"Hey, pretty soon, we'll have a flat all to ourselves, living large, and the ladies won't be able to resist, so don't worry about an old fling."

Link let himself smile a little. "Yeah, I guess there's a lot to look forward to in the city."

Steve noticed that Link wasn't his usual dapper self and said, "Hey, you're down, man. What's eating you?"

"It's...it's nothing important." Link thought real quick for any possible excuse he could give his friend for his strange demeanor. "It's just strange, I suppose...y'know, finally graduating and moving on to the next stage of life."

"Hey, lookit here," said his friend teasingly. "Link's getting all sentimental!" Link scowled for a split second, but he turned his face impassive, trying his hardest to keep his true feelings in check.

And then it was all over. Link and Steve both started clapping as the ceremony ended, and with the word "Congratulations" coming from the mouth of Mr. Edwards, everyone stood and threw their caps into the air. When Link threw his, it never came back down. Confused, he looked around and saw the blond girl standing off to the side, her tall shadow of a handmaid right behind her. The girl was holding his cap.

Link walked menacingly over to Zelda and Impera, a little bit angry to see them. "I can't believe you'd show your faces. I thought I told you that you weren't invited to the ceremony."

Zelda handed him his graduation cap. "I can't even come as a friend?"

Link scoffed. "Friend? Right. Trying to enlist me in a fairy-tale war _really_ makes me want to be your friend, Zelda. Why did you really show up? To ask if I'd reconsidered? The answer is and always will be no."

The princess shook her head. "No, I came here to warn you. As much as I'd like to see you join our cause, you're just not ready yet, and I respect that. But Ganondorf's men have been on the move, and we believe that they are planning an ambush for you soon."

A look of distaste slowly worked its way across Link's face till he said, "You're unbelievable, Zelda. Truly unbelievable. You'll stop at nothing..."

"No!" she protested. "That's not...!"

"...and now you're trying to scare me into joining you? To make me think that I'm prone to attack at anytime from 'Daddy Warbucks' Dragmire's evil henchmen? That's sick. You're all sick. Now you're making _me_ feel sick."

"Congratulations, dear!" said Samantha, Link's foster mother navigating through the throng of graduating students, friends,and family. Charles was trailing her, though his girth made it much harder for him to keep up with his wife. Before Link could say anything else hurtful to Zelda, he was caught up in a hug that nearly took him off his feet.

Charles soon caught up and patted the youth heartily on the back. "Con-congratulations," he panted. The rotund man was the first to notice the presence of Zelda and Impera. "Friends of yours, Link?" He stretched out a pudgy hand to greet the two women, but Link quickly maneuvered himself between the two parties.

"No...no, nah!" sputtered Link at his foster father, who gave him a strange look in return. Link glanced surreptitiously at the two Hyruleans then turned back to Charles. "Sorry...ah, they thought I was someone else and came to talk to me, but it turns out we don't actually know each other." He thought he caught a hint of a look of anger and betrayal on Zelda's perfect features, but he didn't watch long enough to be certain. "Come on, let's go find Steve and his family."

Link walked away with his foster parents while Samantha could be heard to say, "She was such a pretty girl Link; so odd to see you walk away from her so fast..." The princess and her handmaid were soon out of earshot and could hear nothing more.

The Hero had once again turned his back on Zelda, except this time it really stung, for he had accused her of trying to manipulate him into coming back with her.

"Impera," said Zelda, her royal resolve beginning to break, tears starting to form in her eyes, "perhaps you were right. Maybe he really never will come back. I think we've truly lost him forever."

Her handmaid shook her head at Zelda, "Pull yourself together, this is no time to feel sorry for ourselves. Link truly _is_ in danger, and I believe that they will strike now, when he least expects it. Let us hope the gods don't let us down now, and that they give him strength to pull through any challenge thrown at him."

* * *

Samantha definitely did her best to try and distract Link from moving out with Steve so quickly on the day of the graduation. She insisted that he stay for dinner, that he remain to talk, and she even tried to bring up the subject of college again.

But the youth's mind was set. He tried his best to remain cordial and polite, but seeing Zelda and Impera earlier that day had put him somewhat into a sour mood. The terms on which he left Charles and Samantha, though still good, weren't as stellar as he planned them to be. Yet another reason for him to hate Zelda and her group of anti-Ganondorf fanatics.

He and Steve loaded the rest of his boxes into the back of his friend's little green sedan. He was about to jump in the car with him, but remembered something at the last moment.

"Hang tight for a moment," he told Steve. "I need to grab something."

"How did I know you would forget something?" replied his friend with a mock groan.

Link took a moment to walk back to the thick bushes that lined the outside of the Yost home. He quickly removed the object that he had placed there a week ago then hurried back to the car. When he got in the passenger side, he saw Steve's eyes go wide.

"Whoa! That's...that's a sword!"

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Link responded.

"Why were you keeping something like that in the bushes, man?"

Link pursed his lips for a moment. "Let's see...why did I not keep this old thing in the house with me? Oh, right, because I didn't need Charles or Samantha freaking out about it when I brought it home. I just wanted to graduate and get the hell out of dodge."

Steve eased his car out onto the peaceful neighborhood street. "Still...the bushes? You could have left it with me, and it wouldn't have gotten any wear from the weather."

Link shrugged. He remained silent for the rest of the trip to the apartment, never answering any of Steve's questions with more than one or two words. He couldn't help but feel that taking the sword was a mistake, that he should have let it simply sit there and rust.

As he was thinking these thoughts, neither he nor Steve picked up on the fact that a car was following them a few lengths back the entire way to their apartment.

* * *

All the boxes were finally finished being hauled from the car to the elevator and from there lugged down the hall to Link and Steve's fifth floor apartment. The building itself was certainly a fixer upper, what with an old, creaky, metal elevator, plaster falling from many places off the inner walls of the complex, and various lighting apertures either needing a new bulb or simply missing from its original resting place. To Link's dismay, it reminded him a bit of the rundown redbrick building in Brooklyn that housed the resistance headquarters where Zelda and her group plotted against Ganondorf. Thinking about their presence and purpose there strained Link's credulity and threatened to give him a headache.

Vanessa, Steve's girlfriend (and Link was certain that his friend had been with some other girl at the party a week ago, but it was really none of his business) had arrived just as they did to make the boys a home-cooked dinner, some good food to start off the boys' new life. While she flirted with Steve in the kitchen, Link was left to retrieve one last item from the car.

He slipped out of the heavy door of the apartment and made his way down the hall to the elevator. He pressed the down button and waited a moment, but when he looked at the floor indicator the lift appeared to be stuck on the ground level. He clicked his tongue, not truly annoyed, but he didn't want to wait around for whoever was taking their sweet time down there.

A few feet to the right of the elevator door was the stairwell, so Link decided to take it down instead. A few minutes later Link was again walking out to the car in the small, crowded lot. A streetlight flickered, a short in the wiring making the area darker than it normally should have been.

Link felt a little apprehensive, but he couldn't decide why. Perhaps it was the dark? No, he had never been afraid of the dark before, but he couldn't shake his unease. He glanced around the lot when he approached the side of his car, making certain that he was indeed alone. Satisfied that all was well, he pushed the car key into the manual lock of the passenger side of Steve's car and opened the door.

He reached into the interior, grabbed the item he was coming for, and that's when he heard the sound of metal sliding forth from a small casing at his backside. _Oh shit._

Link's heart had already begun to pound when he felt a heavy foot hit him squarely on his spine. He stumbled head first into the car's interior and hit his forehead against the gearstick, causing the boy to see stars.

"Give me the keys, kid!" someone yelled to his rear. Link, a little disoriented, turned around just in time to see the same foot come through the door and kick him again. The greasy-looking man was holding a small switchblade, waving it menacingly from his position outside the car. "C'mon, I haven't got all day! Just throw the fucking keys to me, and I won't cut you!" Another kick, the youth groaned.

Link was about to reach for his pocket where he had momentarily stashed the keys. _What a great welcome to the new neighborhood, _thought Link glumly. _Steve's going to just love losing his car on our first day here._ His fingers tightened around the keychain, but he suddenly got an interesting idea, one that he realized should have presented itself right away. He loosened his grip.

"Kid, you'd better not make me fucking do it! Hurry up! I-" The thief took a sudden step back, realizing that a long, double-edged blade had suddenly materialized in his victim's hand. The sword had been hidden from the man's view the entire time that was assaulting Link, for the youth's back was turned, hiding the sheath.

"What's the matter?" taunted Link, easing his sore body out of the car, keeping the sword's point aimed at the slowly retreating man. "You were going to cut me, right?"

The mugger finally found his voice after his initial shock. "Oh...oh shit! That's a sword, man! That ain't right!"

"You want to make me use it?"

The other shook his head. "Naw, man. Keep the damn car, I'm outta here!" Link, satisfied with his ingenuity, watched smugly as the frightened man took off at a run. Link looked at his sword, took an experimental swing and chuckled when he heard it whistle a little as it cut the air.

He locked the car door and, taking one last look around to make sure the mugger was truly gone, he sheathed his sword and made his way back to the apartment.

The elevator was available to use again, so he went ahead and rode it to the top floor. That same feeling of apprehension remained with him, even though he should have felt a lot better after chasing off the mugger. Perhaps he was only feeling this way because he was worried what people might think of a kid carrying a medieval blade through an apartment complex.

But, despite his justifications, he knew that this wasn't the case at all. And he found out exactly why when he stepped through the door of his apartment once he reached it.

He could hear the telltale signs of a struggle within. Rushing through the door, expecting to come to his friend's aid, he was forced to stop short in surprise. They weren't robbers, which had been the first thought that had popped into his head (yeah, just what he needed; more thieves). No, when he got a good look at the people within, they seemed a bit off, dressed in nice suits, reminding Link of characters from a Japanese Yakuza film. Very soon after coming upon them, however, it was as if a veil was lifted from Link's eyes and he could see them for what they really were.

"Skeletons," he said under his breath. "How is this even possible?"

Alright, they were skeletons. The three fleshless figures had been disguised to seem like ordinary humans, but the fourth personage, the one in charge, was a living person, flesh and blood, who seemed intent on killing Steve right in the middle of the apartment. Vanessa already lay dead on the floor, her many stab wounds pouring blood and staining the carpet a deep red. Link's mouth went dry, and he found himself frozen in shock. He couldn't move, couldn't fight…his success against the car thief moments earlier paled in comparison to whatever he would have to achieve here.

"Link," groaned Steve, a sword held to his throat. "What the hell? What's going on?"

The human in charge then turned, followed the direction of Steve's gaze and stared at the boy in scrutiny, finally growling and charging at him, leaving the bedraggled and beaten friend in the hands of the walking skeletons. Link dodged to the side, but was too shocked to do much else. The man, balding and ugly with great baggy circles under his crazed eyes, turned about and started to speak at last.

"Linus, I assume. Or do you go by your true name...Link? No matter. We have been sent to find you, by orders from Ganondorf. I am Ingo." Link stared at the sneering man, and then screamed in anger as he charged at him, drawing his sword as he did so. Ingo yawned and easily batted Link aside with the hilt of his own sword. Link crashed into box filled with something hard—books, probably—which caused him to stop cold in pain.

Ingo laughed then turned to face the skeletal beasts who still had their cruel-looking weapons pointed at Steve. "The target is here. We no longer need to interrogate this boy for Link's whereabouts. You may kill him." The bloodthirsty skeleton beasts—or Stalfos, Ganondorf's fleshless undead warriors—acted fast, driving their rusted, twisted blades into Link's best friend with amazing speed. He screamed for an instant and then was silent. Steve's now empty body fell to the floor, his eyes wide open. At that moment Link's mind snapped, and there was nothing left but vengeance burning in his blazing blue eyes.

These monsters had just killed his best—no, his _only_ friend, and Ganondorf had been the one to send them. Ganondorf had also killed his birth parents. He was killing everyone dear to Link, just to get to him. Everything that Zelda had been telling him was true.

He made a decision at that moment: these beasts would die by his hand, and then Ganondorf would suffer as well.

Link got up from his position, the pained bones in his back from all the abuse against it that night crying for mercy, but he paid no heed. Sidestepping an attack by a Stalfos that had drawn near to him, he slipped around and moved against a far wall, getting a little distance between himself and his aggressors.

He was ready to enact his first bit of vengeance, no matter the cost to himself.

One of the skeletons was standing in the doorway, seeming to leer at Link. The incensed youth didn't think, he only acted, and he threw his blade—threw it at the skeletal beast. The blade swung wildly in the air but then, as if by some consciousness, it directed itself at the black beating heart in the monster's rib cage. (A black heart for these beasts? It seemed fitting.) The organ burst apart upon being pierced, the only organ in its body, and then the entire monster crumbled into dust. Link, despite his surprise at actually succeeding to defeat one, had no time to dwell on small victories. He ran to the monster's grave site, retrieved his blade and made ready to attack the next.

Link growled and threw his sword with incredible speed at the second skeleton only a few feet away, hoping for the same thing to happen as the first...

...and the sword imbedded itself in the apartment wall a few feet away from his intended target.

Ingo laughed raucously. "Are you serious? Since when does a swordsman _throw_ his weapon at his enemy. You stupid boy—it's time to die." The strange assailants moved in on Link, who was just then regretfully realizing that he really didn't know the first thing about fighting. It was as Ingo said to him: he was doomed to die, just as his friend and Vanessa had moments earlier.

_This is the end, isn't it? Zelda...I should have listened..._

A strange figure burst through the half-open door of the apartment, scattering the bones and dust of the skeletal beast defeated by Link in her wake. It was a tall woman, extremely old by the looks of it, having numerous wrinkles covering her face, but she was lithe and stood straight, a menacing stare seeming to pierce the very heart of Ingo. She was clad in what looked to be a type of form-fitting armor, flexible at the joints, but strong enough to withstand a blade.

"Imp-Impera?" cried Link incredulously, not believing his eyes. She was wielding a short, thin blade, waving it threateningly towards Ganondorf's murderous lackey.

"Aw, to think I'd actually get some kind of resistance from this kid," the ugly man pouted. "No matter. We'll kill the grandma, and then Link will follow. All in a day's work...Stalfos, attack!"

The remaining two monsters brandished their blades ominously and advanced upon Impera. However, in a flurry of blows that Link's eyes couldn't quite follow at times, she made quick work of her foes, bones scattering all over the small apartment as she used her own short blade to sever their heads and dismember them in many places. Soon, all that was left was Ingo, who was sweating noticeably by then.

"Your turn," Impera said, turning finally to Ingo who had been standing aside to watch the fight.

"Fine," agreed the man. "It's your funeral, after all. I'm only here for the proceedings." His blade came down at the woman, but she moved quicker than him, ending up just behind him. Before she could land a blow, he had turned and deflected her blade with his own, his sneer replaced by a look of frustration.

Link, by then, had retrieved his sword from where it had stuck into the wall. He ran to aid the older woman, yelling as he brought his sword down at Ingo. However, the man turned on Link and kicked him squarely in the chest, knocking him across the room. He flew head over heels as the back of his legs connected with the coffee table. His vision again exploded into stars, and he wondered if he wouldn't need an MRI to check his skull for fractures after this was all over.

Impera was dancing around Ingo, but she couldn't land a blow due to his expert swordsmanship. "Hmph," she snorted, "leave it to Ganondorf to kill Link before the man can wait to face the youth himself."

"If he had waited, then _I'd_ be out of a job, wouldn't I?" was Ingo's retort. He feigned with his blade, as if to strike Impera. She made to block, but he didn't finish that attack, instead moving his sword past her defenses and jabbing the point at her chest. She barely had time to move back, but Ingo had her on the defensive this time, making her fend off an onslaught of attacks.

Link got back up in a daze, red rimming his angry vision. Again, he threw his sword, this time at Ingo. He hadn't noticed the kid get up, or he had been too busy fighting Impera. Either way, the sword struck true, impaling the man through one of his arms.

"Agh!" cried the assassin. "Why you..._still_ throwing your damned sword? Argh!" In the man's anger, he turned to face Link, using his free hand to remove the blade lodged in his arm. The action caused him to lose precious moments, which Zelda's handmaid used to get close to Ingo again.

Before the woman could finish him off, he vanished in a flash of violet light, leaving no trace that he had ever occupied that space. Link's sword clattered to the ground, left behind by the escaped assassin. The boy felt he would wilt under Impera's hard stare, but her gaze soon softened. After all, left to the boy were two dead bodies and a fork in the road that only he could choose.

* * *

"Another chance, master! I beg you!" Ingo sputtered. He was reporting to Ganondorf high up in the spiraling Citadel, and his boss was less than pleased at the results of the mission.

"So, in other words, Ingo, you got scared and ran. _You ran from a young boy and an aging crone!_" Ganondorf's eyes flashed angrily and the Triforce mark on the back of his hand lit up with the reawakened power. "Ingo, Ingo, Ingo…you have disappointed me." Ingo's eyes widened in fear, and then he began to run—run from his fate. "And you know what happens when someone disappoints me…." Ganondorf raised his arm and shot out a powerful blast of darkness that struck Ingo, surrounding and choking him. Ingo screamed as his flesh was eaten away, and then there was silence. Ganondorf smiled at his new recruit. "Arise, my Stalfos. Prepare to serve me well."

The glaring Stalfos—once the living breathing Ingo—nodded slowly. Now he was a mere walking skeleton—an undead warrior of Ganondorf.

* * *

"Hey, ain't that Link?" Mal asked as she looked up at the forlorn figure that was making its way into the redbrick building, a familiar old woman by his side. Zelda looked up as well, her hopeful eyes glittering once more. Link was walking slowly up to Zelda, his head lowered by a fraction.

"They…Ganondorf…" Link began.

Zelda nodded. Link didn't need to explain anything to her, for she could see in his eyes the truth of what had just occurred. "He's an evil man who stops at nothing to get what he wants. He's a murderer, Link. Now you realize that." Link nodded, two bleary eyes showing his grief. "Now you see why we work so diligently. Ganondorf is a monster that must…for all time…be destroyed. And it is up to you and me to do it. We share a special bond...I don't know how else to explain it, but it's up to us."

Link sniffled, then offered his hand to her. "Friends?"

Zelda smiled happily and shook Link's hand. "Friends."

_**A/N: **Ingo, Ingo, Ingo...I like him as a bad guy. I didn't change everyone's name for this story, even though I did so with Mal (Malon), Impera (Impa) and later on you'll see some more references to game characters, but I kept Ingo's name the same simply because I couldn't find a suitable alternative that readers would be able to pick up on._

_Seldavia...I gotta hand it to her. If it weren't for her, this story would have ended up with a cliché that would have left every reader groaning at the sheer overdone-ness of it all. Whereas I have Ingo killing off Link's friend here once they get to the new apartment, before Erico had written this part as kind of a parallel to Star Wars where Ingo actually comes and kills Link's foster parents. Okay, sure, it's a nice nod to George Lucas and all, but I think this rewrite deserved something a little better than that, so I went with Seldavia's suggestions to rewrite it._


	5. Chapter 4: The AGM

_**Chapter Four: The AGM**_

By Sparty

For three weeks now, Link had been in hiding with Zelda, Impera, Mal, and many others who were with the AGM, or "Anti-Ganondorf Movement", as Link had come to call it. Within the confines of the "abandoned" warehouse the wide-eyed, impetuous youth felt completely cut off from the world...but, otherwise, he was now immersed in a completely new one.

Zelda had tried to explain to Link how exactly it was a safe-haven from Ganondorf and his lackeys. Basically the AGM employed some kind of magical barrier that kept anyone but those allowed by Impera (for the barrier was of her own design and magic) away from this particular building. And, of course, there were members of the resistance posted as lookouts around the clock to ensure that no one suspicious was attempting to find a way past the AGM's security.

But there were times when the members of the resistance had to get out for awhile, Link being among those people. Despite the dangers posed by Ganondorf against lone members of the Hyrulean resistance, many who worked under Zelda still had lives and families on the outside. Likewise, Mr. Dragmire was also a very busy man, and he could only be on the lookout for the AGM members so much. The risks associated with leaving the hideout, therefore, were minimal, and on the off chance that an AGM member was confronted by one of Ganondorf's goons, they were usually more than capable of handling him- or herself. Arguably, the head of Dragmire Industries and his henchmen didn't even know who comprised half of the AGM.

"Young man, I would advise against attending Steve's funeral service," was Impera's warning to him when he expressed a desire to do just that. "You're an intelligent boy, so you know as well as anyone that Ganondorf could possibly be looking for you in such an obvious place."

But Link was insistent. He was finally allowed to go, but members of the resistance were to accompany him. Luckily, nobody questioned him about his strange friends during the solemn event; besides, he didn't stick around long enough for the wake.

That was also the last day he saw his foster parents. Again, not truly leaving on the best terms, and though they had many questions for him, he shrugged them off, his mind elsewhere. Deciding it was for the best, after that day, all contact with his foster parents was finished. His best friend was dead, and they were the next best thing he had to family. It was damn hard, but he knew he was doing his them a favor by getting out of their lives for now...if not forever.

Presently, Link trained with the sword every day and listened carefully to every word his trainers shared with him. He seemed to be improving and showed much promise, but his skill level was still nowhere near where most members of the AGM already were. Also, there was the fact that he was eighteen and had only just picked up the sword for the first time mere weeks ago. Another big problem, which Mal always gave him grief for, was that he already had many preconceived notions about swordplay (for which he blamed on the movie industry). She and other instructors worked hard to rid him of bad habits and to imprint in his mind new discipline.

Despite his many downfalls and growing frustrations, the boy was determined. His hard work was ultimately paying off, for everyone noticed his quick progress. Among other advanced skills, Link could now perform a special sword-spin technique that had been passed down by the swordsmen of Hyrule for generations. This, he was told, was one of the hardest techniques that he would ever learn, for it required the surest of footwork and a good balance.

"Link," Zelda told him in passing, "in times past, your ancestors could propel magic power in a sweeping arc in conjunction with this same technique."

"And you're going to teach me how, right?" suggested Link. "Or maybe Impera will?"

The princess frowned slightly. "Magic only remains in certain people and in hard-to-perceive forms; it would be almost impossible for the people of today to harness and use."

Link knew how to execute the technique, but harnessing said magic was quite another thing altogether. Link wondered if he possessed any magic abilities, as Zelda and Impera did, but tapping into said abilities was something he hadn't quite figured out yet. Mal constantly had to remind him that it had only been the better part of a month; there was still a long way for him to go.

The group of renegades had supplied Link with every necessity for his stay at the abandoned building-turned-hideout. He was provided his own private quarters with a small bathroom, a twin-sized bed, and a television for keeping up on current events. It was almost like a small hotel room, and, in fact, it basically was because everyone who stayed at the hideout had an almost-identical room. Meals there were generally eaten with the entire group together in the training hall. Most of the time it was old military rations and canned goods, but Impera was an excellent chef and would cook for everyone every now and then.

Speaking of the old woman, Link was grateful to her saving his life from Ingo and the Stalfos that had been under his command. But he still harbored a quiet resentment towards her that few took note of. It was nothing too troubling, but remained there all the same.

What bothered him was how she had sent him away after the death of his parents so many years ago, how he wasn't receiving any education or training pertaining to his heritage until now. Of course, Impera had chosen to remain Zelda's stewardess, as she had been even before the death of the princess' own parents. Obviously, there was no changing the decisions of the past, and, though still a little miffed, Link was more than ready to simply buckle down and do what he could to oppose Ganondorf as well. If not for Zelda or Impera...then certainly he was doing this for himself.

As for the AGM, the group by itself wasn't self-sufficient. For an operation of this magnitude there needed to be help from the outside. Organizations who secretly supported Zelda's group donated money and supplies to them often, and some even dealt in recruiting new members. Link noticed there were quite a few people in the resistance who had once worked for Ganondorf but had defected. Not all were trained to fight, for the group needed doctors, technicians, financial advisers...things were more involved than Link had ever previously thought they were.

And though Link was the hero and supposedly very important to the cause's eventual success, he tried not to think about all the intricacies of how things were run. His main focus was his training, not bureaucracy.

"So, when are we going to attack Ganondorf?" Link asked Mal one day while he was practicing with her in the training room. Mal enjoyed sparring with Link, though she had won every match to date. There was another trainer named Mido who also had never lost to Link, and he was only a midget! Swords weren't even Mido's specialty—the small man was more interested in archery, an expert with bows and crossbows. As an instructor, Mido was as invaluable as Mal, and they pushed Link to try harder every day. The only thing that really bothered him was that Mal liked to sing to herself sometimes. Not that her singing was awful. In fact, Mal had a terrific voice, but couldn't she sing something other than Country Music for a change?

"That ain't the way we play at this," she said in response, sounding as if he had just asked a ridiculous question. She held her sword at her side, the sharp end resting on the ground and her right hand relaxing on the hilt. Today she was wearing boots underneath her tight-fitting jeans and a blue and white plaid button-up shirt. She also wore thick gloves on her arms that were designed specifically for handling a sword.

Link was wearing loose-fitting cargo pants, a green tank top and thick leather gloves. He copied Mal, putting his left hand to rest on the hilt of his great grandfather's sword. "Then…what's the point of all this practice? I mean, I sort of like using the sword now, it's really fun, but we're doing all this because of Ganondorf, right?"

"Thing ya gotta understand is we're gettin' ready for when we absolutely _need_ to use our abilities. We ain't gonna go off and attack Ganondorf just yet, but we _are _preparin' for that eventuality, whether it's him that comes after us first or vice versa. Ya see, we've got what he wants. Especially now that you're with us, he's gonna double his efforts. Those golden triangles are his ticket to world domination."

Link ran his hand through his long hair. "Jeez, I guess this Triforce stuff is more serious than I though. Looks like we'll have to double our own efforts if we're going to be able to keep up."

"Ain't it the truth? And, yeah, that there sacred relic is for upholdin' and balancin' the world. I really ain't the one you should be talkin' to 'bout this, but you can definitely ask Zelda or Impera for more info."

Link nodded then left Mal to practice on his own a few techniques that Mido had tasked him to do that day: back flips, rolls, and dives. Link had never before been more fit in his life, even though he had worked out nearly every day for the past few years. Now he was active almost the entire day, training from dawn until evening sometimes, and it paved the way for him to do things he never thought possible. His endurance and strength had since surpassed its original level.

A montage of training events ran through his actively creative mind in tune to the "Rocky" training music, and he smiled in spite of how ridiculous the thought seemed.

Link started with attempting the back-flip. Mido had told him that a back flip was useful in many instances in order to quickly get away from an enemy. It provided space for defense and enough time after coming out of it to attack if needed. The other evasive maneuvers were easy, but Link had begun learning this particularly difficult move only a few days ago. He fell a lot, but luckily the floor he was on was padded, so it helped to cushion his many unsuccessful attempts.

Mal watched him for a moment and praised his form. "I can see that yer definitely takin' this serious. Your back flip is startin' to look better than my own now."

"Oh, I'm becoming a regular Ninja Warrior, babe."

Mal laughed at his response. "You have to learn to fight better if you're goin' to make remarks like that hero. But, judging by your progress, ya might get better at the sword than me before long."

Link gave her a look of astonishment. "What? Are you serious? How can you say that when you've beaten me by a long shot each time we've gone at it? But you know what? I think I've almost got what it takes to beat Mido."

Mal giggled as she removed her gloves. "You're real cute sometimes, but even if you beat him in swordplay, you gotta do it in archery too. I'm afraid you just ain't cut out for that, hero."

Link smirked. "A little more practice and I'll master archery too, just like I'm mastering the sword. I hope you'll be there to see me wipe that smug grin off of Mido's face." Link definitely enjoyed the time he got to spend with Mal. She was beautiful, funny, and he could deal with the country music if he truly tried. As she laughed at his enthusiasm he sauntered over and reached for her hand. "Hey, whadd'ya say you and I go out on the town tonight, just the two of us." He couldn't be too sure, but he thought he detected a hint of blushing, her freckles disappearing under a touch of red skin.

"Hmmm...and leave the safety of the hideout?" For a moment Link thought he was going to get reprimanded for even suggesting such a thing when Mal suddenly said, "I like the idea; I've been cooped up for over three days now and it's about time I stretched my legs. What about _her_ though?" She pointed to a figure walking across the room. Even from where they were standing, so far across the wide space of the training room, Link could tell that it was Zelda. He couldn't be sure, but he thought that she quickly glanced in the direction of Mal and Link, turning away quickly when she noticed that they were holding hands.

Link hesitated a moment, watching the princess studiously before he shrugged and replied, "I don't recall me and Zelda ever being an item. Y'know, it wouldn't work anyway. She's been busy, and I've been busy. Just because she and I are supposed to be 'bound by destiny' doesn't mean that I'm supposed to ignore someone as beautiful as you." Mal blushed an even deeper red, a huge smile displayed on her face.

"Ahem!" It was Mido, and, having stealthily returned, he had been watching Link and Mal for some time now without them noticing. "Link," he said in his diminutive voice. It wasn't his fault he sounded the way that he did—midgets were just victims of reduction. "I thought you were planning on challenging me. I guess you got a little preoccupied."

"Preoccupied?" scoffed Link. "Nah, she was just giving me a few pointers before you came back." He winked at Mal, a gesture that Mido missed.

"Then what are you still waiting around for? You ready to dance or what?"

Link grinned deviously, "Any time, little man." He went to pick up his sword and stood across from Mido. "So it's a date then?" he asked, looking back at Mal.

"You betcha," she replied. She then yelled for all to hear. "Hey! Link and Mido are gonna fight again. Place yer bets here!" She paused as everyone began crowding round, then she also announced, "Also, Link and I are goin' out tonight! Yee-haw!" When the ensuing clapping and cheering died down, people began to get antsy for the fight again, so they started to howl at them to get things started.

_Mal definitely knows how to have a good time with any situation, _thought Link, noticing how excited she was. His thoughts then turned to Zelda for a moment, and he began to wonder what she was up to at the moment…yes, there she was, standing to the side, ready to watch the fight too; however, she didn't look too happy or excited. She locked her gaze onto Link, and they looked at each other for a moment. _Could she be...is Zelda...? Nah, Mal digs me and I dig her too. Zelda's beautiful, but I don't think there could ever be anything between us...could there?_

* * *

Outside the door to his quarters, Link and Mal were at the end of their first official date. It had gone very well, and it definitely made up for the fact that he had lost a sparring match to Mido yet again.

At first he and Mal had gone out driving on the outskirts of the city in her souped-up Mustang GT. Not only did she drive fast, but she handled a stick better than he or any of his old friends could have. She had rolled down the windows to allow the rushing wind to flow through the car's interior. Being there with Mal, the dusk air rushing over his face, he had felt more free then than he had in a long time. He had looked over to see her long red hair caught in the wind-stream, blowing wildly around her perfect features. He had only been able to think of how lucky he was to be with someone like her this night.

They took Mal's favorite car: her souped-up Mustang GT. Mal enjoyed showing off her wheels, and it made her grin at the impressed looks she received from Link as he checked out her ride. They drove through New York City with relative ease for the girl could weave in and out of traffic better than a seasoned cab driver. There were times when Link was given a scare during some close calls, but the other merely laughed off his trepidation.

If she weren't so beautiful and so enjoyable to be around, he would have ended up walking back to the hideout, even with the possible danger of Ganondorf's men confronting him.

They located the planned-upon park, which was the perfect place to set up and have their picnic dinner. It was a little corny, even for a first date, but Mal insisted, which let Link realize what a sucker for small romantic things like this Mal was.

As for the picnic itself, before leaving on their little excursion away from the hideout, the two had scrounged together a bit of leftover food from some of Impera's cooking, however, by the time they sat down to eat, the food was already a little cold. But chilly food mattered little to the two of them because it had been so easy to just sit there and relax and talk, and the meal was still tasty anyway. Mal was such an easy-going person and...well, Link could now be proud to say it, but she was also a great kisser. Out by the small, man-made lake, Mal let Link take her in his arms, and they continued to kiss each other as the moon rose into the sky, the excitement of being with each other rising within the two of them.

And, of course, each had their swords nearby and at the ready.

It was much later when they finally packed up and made their way back to Brooklyn. When they arrived back at the hideout it was already two in the morning.

"You know," said Link, "if I was still living with my foster parents I'd be grounded for two reasons right now."

Mal raised her eyebrows and wrapped her arms around Link's neck, "Really? Why would they do a thing like that after you've had such a wonderful evenin'?"

"Well," he explained with a smile, "the first is that I just broke curfew by three hours." He enjoyed being as close to her as he was now, and he felt his excitement rise as she wrapped her arms tighter and moved in a little closer to him.

"Easily forgiven, in my opinion." She kissed him lightly. "An' the second?"

"The second would be because I brought a girl home with me."

She shook her head. "Don't you fret it, hero. Besides," she said, a hint of playfulness in her voice, "I really wanna know why ya got it in your head that I," she brushed lips with him again, "came home with ya. After all, we're not even in the room yet."

Link leaned forward, planting a firm kiss upon her. "No, but there's an invitation going out to you right now if you want it."

She smiled warmly at him. "Why, hero...I accept."

Link opened the door with one hand while he led Mal into his room with the other. Turning on the lights and shutting the door behind him, he went over to his mini-fridge and began rummaging through it. "I'm sorry I don't have anything too great to drink. I'm afraid all I have to offer is root beer and grape soda."

She initially gave him a look of disapproval. "Really? Soda? That's pretty unhealthy stuff there, especially since you've got so much training to do." Link winced, but she laughed and pushed him lightly. "Lighten up, hero! Ya know I'm just jerkin' your chain. I have a stash of Budweiser in my own room."

"Aren't you a little bit underage to be hoarding that stuff?" Link said with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh! An' this comin' from the party animal that Zelda told us all about?"

"Ah...that, y'know..." He hung his head in defeat. "Touche."

A smug smile was plastered on her freckled face. "And a grape soda sounds great."

She smiled warmly as she sat down on the edge of Link's bed. He came to sit next to her carrying with him two cold cans of what he personally considered to be liquid gold. Not many shared his sentiments on the subject, but he was far beyond caring what anyone thought of him. Being in foster care for so long had taught him to be his own man, to go his own path in life...he would always prefer this stuff over any can of beer (though his experience to the latter was confined only to that night of celebration the week before his graduation).

The two didn't say much as they sipped their drinks. Mal found the night stand and set her drink on it. "So," she said, "here I am in your room."

Link set his drink down too, and awkwardly said, "Yeah. So...maybe one day I can see your room too...because...y'know, it looks a lot like mine, but it's _your_ room, and that's why I'd want to see..."

"Just kiss me, dammit."

Link got the hint and smiled devilishly as he closed in on her. "Okay!" Just like that, a repeat of the lakeside picnic occurred and they were all over each other again. However, this time, they were in the privacy of Link's room, and things began to get a little heated between the two. Was it their close proximity in such a small space? Was the air conditioning malfunctioning? It was summer after all. Or did their desire for each other in the moment simply start to guide their actions?

Whatever the reason, and it was one they had no intention of dwelling on, they began to work each other's clothing off. Sooner than one would imagine, Link was down to just his boxers and Mal had only her bra and panties left on her person. Things were just about to get a bit more heated when there was a knock on the door. Link froze up for a moment, pulling away with a look that seemed to say, "Should I get it?"

"Ignore it," said Mal as she pulled Link back towards her, but the knocking happened again.

Link gave her the look again, but she was quick to reply. "No." She wrapped her arms around his neck and began kissing him some more. She reached back behind her and was beginning to undo her bra strap when the door opened up. Mal shrieked and Link yelled in anger at the intruder who was none other than Zelda herself.

"Hey!" Link shouted at the princess. "After the second knock I think it was pretty obvious that I wasn't going to answer. Also, privacy is still a courtesy in this country, your highness." He scrambled to get his pants back on while Mal hid under Link's sheets.

"When you didn't answer I was worried something had happened," replied Zelda, not the least bit taken aback by the scene she had barged into, as if she had known exactly what was going on inside the room.

"Oh, don't worry," Link assured her, "nothing had happened...yet." Zelda smirked, and Link continued. "What are you doing up this late anyway? It's almost three A.M., and you're knocking on my door."

"Can't it wait, Zelda?" asked Mal, poking her head up from beneath the covers a bit. "Perhaps till mornin'? An' I don't mean _this_ early in the mornin'."

Link thought he could hear Zelda mutter something under her breath, something that sounded an awful lot like "slut". Then she looked at him and said, "I've decided that it can't wait. You need to come with me right now, Link."

"No, I'm staying right here with Mal, and you'll just have to...hey, where are you going?" Link just noticed that Mal was out of bed getting dressed, and he turned to her in protest. "Look," he said to her, "Zelda's going to go back to sleep, and you and I will...continue to...y'know..."

Mal silently finished getting her clothes on and began walking out of the room. As she passed by Link she placed a hand playfully on his chest and said, "It's okay, I can see that Zelda's not gonna leave till she's satisfied. Maybe it'd be best if ya just went with her." Her lips touched Link's one last time, and she whispered, "I'll see ya round, handsome." And with that she was out the door, leaving Link (who was still shirtless) with a bemused Zelda.

With Mal gone, Zelda immediately looked kind of down. Link thought to ask her about it, but figured it'd be best to leave unopened whatever can of worms that might potentially be.

Zelda said softly, "You know she's a heart-breaker, right?"

Annoyed, Link replied, "So, what? I'm not?"

Zelda just dismissed his retort with a wave of her hand. "You know what, Link? It doesn't matter right now. What I need is for you to do is to come with me."

Link was about to follow her out the door when she turned on him, eyes narrowed. "And, please, for the love of...just put on a shirt already!"

* * *

"It's rude to stare."

Link blinked his eyes and turned to Zelda. "But...but it's a human fish!"

"Link," warned Zelda, under her breath, "act with a little more tact, please. This is Ruton, a Zora survivor from Hyrule. There are hardly any of his kind living anymore."

Impera snorted in a chuckle, her arms ever crossed. "And only _I'm_ allowed to call him fish."

"Hey!" growled the man with the blue-tinted skin and fins instead of hair. "I'm standing right here, guys!"

Zelda had brought Link to a room that was sparsely decorated; only a few potted plants were visible along the walls. There was a long, oval table in the center with swivel chairs placed all around it, upon which a few key members of the resistance were sitting.

There was, of course, Zelda, Impera, and the person Link had only just met, Ruton. Also, there was Mido, who was sitting on top of a couple phone books so that he could see better over the top edge of the table. Mal also came in, and had given Link a huge smile upon seeing him there. A few other members of the resistance were present, but Link was horrible at remembering names, and couldn't properly identify them if he had tried.

"Everyone is here?" asked Zelda to the group assembled, ignoring the annoyance on Ruton's face. "Then we can get started with 'Operation Evil's Bane'." She sighed when she saw a hand instantly go up. "Yes, Link?"

"I may not be in know about how things work around here at the AGM," started Link, "but holding a secret meeting past midnight like this...I mean, couldn't we do this some time during the day?"

Zelda fought to hold her royal composure in check at Link's brainish question. "Well, we would have gotten started much, much earlier, but some people decided to show up later than anticipated. Now...put your hand down. What?"

Link lowered the hand that he had raised again. He smirked when he heard Mal giggle softly from across the table at his antics. "Okay, understood, gotcha. But, if you had _told_ us there was going to be a secret meeting, then we would have shown up on time."

Zelda closed her eyes, resisting the urge to bash the Bearer of Courage upside his grinning head with a well-intended fist. She opened them slowly, saying, "_If_ I had told you that we were going to have a secret meeting, then it wouldn't have been that secret now, would it? Oh! For the love of...what is it this time?"

Ruton snickered, Impera was staring laser beams from her eyes, and Zelda was on the verge of a meltdown. Link lowered his hand a third time and took a quick look at the expectant looks upon the faces of the people gathered.

"Jeez, lighten up, guys. I just going to ask what 'Operation Evil's Bane' is."

_**A/N:** I included a brief account of Hyrule's history in the previous edition of this chapter. That account no longer exists, as I feel it wasn't pertinent to the events of the story as a whole. If you want my current beliefs on the whole Zelda timeline theory, then you can send me a request to hear about it, but you won't see it in this version of my story._

_Seldavia noticed a huge flaw in some of the logic surrounding this chapter. It took me a little bit longer to get it posted because of that simply because I ended up rewriting much of the narrative to account for certain events here, but I hope now it all seems to flow best it can._

_Also, thank you Davin Sunrider for noticing an inconsistency with Link's emotional response when hearing about his real parents' death a few chapters back. That actually gets addressed in the chapter after this a bit._


	6. Chapter 5: OEB

_**A/N: **This is the point where some chapters were necessary to deviate from the old, original storyline a bit. These are written by me, Sparty. Erico's chapters start up again in a little bit._

_**Chapter Five: "OEB"**_

By Sparty

He had never gone skydiving before. Actually, many of the things he had been asked to do as of late were things he had never done before, among them were such things as training with medieval weapons and being asked to take on the head of the largest worldwide conglomerate.

"Link, you ready?" he heard a young woman's voice ask through his radio ear-piece. He held a gloved hand up to the talk button to answer back.

"Are you kidding me?" he yelled back, slightly irritated. "You guys could have at least done a practice jump with me, but I'm going it alone on my _first try_." It was his first solo mission. Actually, it was his first mission. Period. He was more than a little nervous, but a strong wave of courage suddenly washed over him, drowning out his anxiety, something that happened every now and then to drown out his fears, which a certain princess attributed to his Triforce piece. "Which is fine with me," he quickly amended. "You know I like a challenge.

"So you say," replied the voice over the ear-piece, breaking him from his straying thoughts. "Just remember to do exactly what you were taught in the pre-mission briefing. We don't want you to splatter all over the side of the Himalayas."

Early that morning, Link and a small group from the AGM had left from a base camp in Tibet, at the foot of Mount Everest. Of course, they had no intention of climbing it, though some joked that Link was fool enough to just try it. Their helicopter had picked them up and carried them further up the mountain range to where Link would be making his insertion—by parachute.

"I wouldn't want to disappoint you, your highness," he assured her. "Besides, who would take out Ganondorf in my stead if I became part of the mountain range's decoration? Mido?" He heard someone with a diminutive voice cough loudly behind him, but he ignored it, smiling. "Also, if I forget a step, I have you to guide me through it." _Zelda worries too much_, he thought tiredly. _It's not her fault though. It must be because of that connection she feels with me...and she needs to chill out._

The youth tried to look out the window of the helicopter and saw nothing but misty lower-atmosphere clouds and craggy jagged mountains covered in snow. Link was clothed warmly in a full head mask and darkly-tinted goggles, thermal undergarments and two layers of winter coats, the last of which was a full-body suit of green and black. His many layers of gortex left him feeling rather toasty but grateful that the frosty air of the Himalayas wouldn't end up freezing him to his core.

He donned his final piece of attire, a protective helmet, and gave a thumbs up to the short man standing by the helicopter's sliding door. Mido checked out all of Link's gear, making sure the parachute pack was secured fast to his slender frame, and that his other gear was bagged and tethered firmly by a long lanyard to its bottom. The midget then returned the thumbs up and proceeded to unlatch the exit. He shoved the door aside and a blast of cold air found its way swiftly into the helicopter's interior.

"Hurry up and jump!" shouted Mido, squinting his eyes against the chill wind. His short curly red hair was usually pretty unmoving, but the strong gusts from outside managed to batter it all about.

Link gritted his teeth, a little intimidated at first, but then the strong sensation of courage welled up within him again. Without another moment's hesitation, he was out the door, hurtling through the clear cold air towards his destination. He looked behind him and saw the helicopter rapidly shrink away from view, until it was hidden behind a wall of clouds. His bag of gear flopped wildly behind him in the rush of wind, but he paid it no heed, for the sensation of free fall was exhilarating.

"Link, are you listening to me?"

He snapped out of his free-fall induced daze and reached up beneath his helmet to touch the talk button on his ear transceiver. "Yeah, you got me, Zelda. What's up?"

"Damn it, Link, pay attention to your altimeter! You should have deployed your chute by now!"

The youth growled, looking at his wrist-borne device. 5200 ft and dropping rapidly. "Ah, shit, Z. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Stop wasting time, and pull the release!" Her voice sounded somewhat frantic. What was so bad about enjoying the fall just a little bit longer?

What was wrong was that he was up in the mountains. They seemed very close now, closer than five thousand feet should put him. Then it dawned on him; the altimeter could only read at five thousand feet above _sea level_. The elevation of the mountain range reduced his actual altitude while falling. He checked the device on his wrist: 4600 feet now. The white-capped mountains suddenly didn't seem so far away. Probably because they were, in reality, only about one thousand feet below him now.

Link pulled the automatic release on his chute and he felt the fabric begin to drag at the wind behind him. When it finally fully deployed above him, he was jolted hard in his harness, but his fall instantly slowed.

Ten seconds later, he impacted with the mountain slope. "Ooof!" he cried. He had tried to hit with his knees bent, and he had done just that, for the most part. What really hurt was when he immediately snapped to his side and struck the rock surface with his mid-torso. It winded him for a moment, causing him to forget the next important step in the jump: releasing his parachute when he hit the ground.

Link felt a strong force pull him back to his feet, then instantly forward onto his face. That's when he was towed along behind the wind-filled parachute for a few meters. He struggled to release the two clips on his harness, but was only successful with undoing one of them. The parachute continued to drag him for another few meters before the second clip finally became unsnapped.

The youth breathed a long sigh of relief and watched as the huge piece of fabric blew wildly about in the strong mountain gusts and flew out of sight. He had survived the jump, but things were only just getting started.

* * *

Zelda put down her headset and stretched her tense arm muscles, raising both hands high into the air. Link was becoming dedicated to the resistance, but he was still as skeptical as ever and was always giving her trouble—"a pain in her royal ass", as he would so tenderly put it—but his dedication was beginning to pay off.

This fervent dedication had really started a few weeks ago: the day he had come back with Impera, the day she had told him the full account about his real parents. After telling him, she was berated by all that she had only compounded the pain he felt after just losing his best friend, and the commencement of his training had been postponed; it had been a lot for him to take in. However, Zelda felt he had a right to know the truth about his origins, how he had become an orphan, much the same way she had.

She told him everything, how both their sets of parents were killed on the same day in an attempt by Ganondorf to obtain their Triforce pieces. Link's father was the keeper of Courage, as Zelda's mother kept with her the piece of Wisdom. Zelda and Link had been infants at the time, and Impera had been tasked with keeping watch over them. She had gone on a stroll with the two in their carriages into the gardens at Zelda's family estate, a large mansion located just outside New York City.

Impera had many years later told Zelda the events of that day, how otherworldly monsters had poured onto the estate grounds and flooded into the mansion. The infants' parents were all inside the building, for they had gathered to decide how best to deal with Ganondorf since he had recently recovered the hidden Triforce of Power. They struggled valiantly against the intruding monsters, but fell in battle from being completely overwhelmed.

Impera fought off pursuers, and finally managed to escape the grounds of the estate with the two babies. She kept Zelda for herself, to train her in the ways of Hyrule royalty. Link, however, she turned over to the State of New York, which in subsequent years put him in foster care. Impera retained her vigilance over the two for the next eighteen years, and soon learned that the Triforces of Wisdom and Courage had somehow transferred from their original holders to Link and Zelda. Perhaps their parents knew that their time was short, and just before their deaths had mysteriously sent the relics to their children, to keep out of reach of Ganondorf and his men.

Splitting the children had been a wise move, for if one were to be found by Ganondorf, there would still be the other, and all would not be lost. The only disadvantage to the situation was that Zelda had grown up knowing of her destiny and the eternal struggle with Ganondorf; Link, however, had not.

Over the past few weeks, it had been difficult to bring him up to speed on everything, but his desire to learn had only been enhanced by his newfound passion to bring down Ganondorf and prevent him from furthering his evil goals.

"Insertion complete," she relayed to Impera, who was monitoring Link's position on a GPS relay screen. "OEB is under way." They were at the Mount Everest base camp in a large tent they had set up as a portable command post. Impera tracked Link's movements via satellite, and Zelda was in charge of radio communication.

"Good," replied Impera, eyes remaining focused on her screen. "Let's lead him to the package."

A blast of cold air suddenly invaded the small space of the tent as a figure dressed head-to-toe in thick furs scurried inside. "You guys told me it was going to be cold up here, but I think the frost is beginning to penetrate even my inner layers of insulation." The person complaining then took off his goggles and thick wool face mask to reveal a pale blue visage with a sharp nose and deep dark eyes that shone brightly in the dim interior of the tent.

"Ruton, is it any wonder? After all, you are a fish," Impera grunted at him, glancing his way for a brief moment. "Last I heard, fish aren't warm-blooded, but your body can handle a wide array of temperatures, whereas ours find it harder. In that regard, I don't see what all your fuss is about."

"Urgh! You know I hate it when you call me a fish. I'm a _Zora—_always have been, always will be. So what if I'm _able_ to handle a little cold? You have to realize that it slows down my metabolism, causing me to perform at only half my capacities. Why couldn't Mal do this instead of me? I could have stayed back in New York."

Zelda grinned at the flustered Zora. "She has a part in this too, don't you worry about a thing. Besides, you're our electronics specialist—if something were to break down, we'll need you to fix it for us. This mission is extremely important, so we can't have anything go wrong."

Ruton rubbed his thickly mitt hand over his smooth features. "Ah, nothing hurts more than the truth. Anyway, I checked the mini satellite dishes we set up outside—they look fine, so we should have a pretty clear picture of golden boy for the entire operation." He took a seat in a metal fold-out chair next to Zelda. "Ack! I can even feel the cold of my metal seat through these thick furs on me."

Zelda smirked at him. "Wow, for a proud warrior of the Zora tradition, you sure are a baby today."

He grimaced in return. "Oh, just leave me be. Anyway, you say Mal has a part in this, yet I haven't seen her all day. What's she up to?"

* * *

Link rolled his eyes as he approached his target. _So much for doing this myself_, he thought glumly. Zelda had told him that this was to be a solo mission, a task to test him, to see if he could put some of his training to good use. His target was a cave hidden snugly in the rocky slopes of the Himalayas, and he had come within sight of it, thanks to his portable GPS. However, standing directly in front of the cave's entrance was a slim figure dressed warmly in a heavy white coat, snow pants, leather boots and snow shoes attached to the bottoms of them. She also sported a head of long red hair that whipped about her face in the strong mountain winds.

"Mal!" shouted Link, a little angry. "What are you doing here?"

The Texas girl looked Link up and down for a moment. He was dressed in much the same way as her, but the only difference was the green coat he was wearing, as well as a white wool face mask, whereas she opted to expose her face to the cold air, excepting the mico-fiber cap that came down just below her ears. On Link's back was a large pack with his gear in it, and the hilt of a steel-bladed sword was poking out from behind his left shoulder.

Mal answered him in a thick country drawl. "What am I doin' here? I'm backup for your skinny ass." A sword similar to Link's was on her back, but the hilt was poking up from behind her right shoulder instead of the left, due to her manual preference.

"Backup?" Link tossed his hands into the air. "Are you serious? How am I supposed to learn anything on my own with you tagging along?"

Mal looked a little annoyed. "Hey, jus' 'cause ya think you're big enough to do this on your own, it don't give ya the right to talk back to your teacher like that. This may not be a classroom environment, but I sure as hell ain't gonna let my star pupil die of frost bite out here...or worse. Face it, rookie, you're stuck with me. Besides, I thought you'd be a bit happier to see me."

Link sighed. Of course, he was definitely happy to see Mal, for obvious reasons. "I'm sorry," he finally said. "Just promise that you'll leave me to figure things out on my own in there."

She winked at him. "Don't worry, I won't get in your way. Jus' consider me a lil' helpin' hand when you're goin' through these caverns, Link."

"At least it was you that came along and not Mido," muttered Link, trudging ahead of Mal through the cave entrance. "For a midget, he can be a real hard-ass sometimes." The opening in the rock was about ten feet wide and only five feet high, forcing the two of them to crouch down a bit to enter.

Mal chuckled at that, her laugh echoing throughout the narrow space. "I know exactly what ya mean, hero."

Link beamed when she called him "hero". It was a habit that she had picked up, ever since Zelda told everyone that he had been chosen by the Goddesses to bear the Triforce of Courage and fight against Ganondorf. He didn't especially feel like a hero, and he wasn't sure if he ever would. However, Mal's encouragement always helped to pick up his spirits, and it definitely helped when she actually replaced his name with "hero".

"Yeah, I suppose you had to deal with him when he was _your _instructor, huh?"

"Uh-huh," she affirmed. "But I was his favorite trainee, so I didn't have to listen to him yap for too long before I was trainin' others to fight too."

Link scowled. "Lucky you."

They placed their snow shoes at the entrance to the cave and unloaded some of their unnecessary gear. The rocky cavity was considerably warmer than the Tibetan mountain air outside, so the two teenagers shed their warm outer coats as well. They kept their ear transceivers and their swords, as well as a few tools and provisions for sustenance. Their food consisted of old military rations from the States. They didn't know how long they would be in the mountain, so they needed to be able to last long enough to reach their objective.

Impera had supplied Link a map before he took off that morning. It showed the intricate layout of the caverns, revealing that the inside of the mountain was quite spacious, offering many different hollowed-out rooms and hallways to explore. Their destination was marked by a yellow tab placed on the map, pointing out a large circular chamber deep in the cavern's recesses.

The two checked their weapons one last time, making sure they were strapped on properly, and each carried a satchel on their backs, carrying the rest of their food and supplies that they would need for the trek.

Mal looked at him and smiled. "Ready when you are."

"Yeah," Link said, feeling a little excited. "Let's do this."

"Ya know what we're here to do, right?"

The youth nodded his head in reply. "Yeah...I just hope this helps out with our fight against Dragmire. I trust Zelda and Impera know what they're doing, sending us here."

"Oh, they know exactly what they're doin'."

Link placed a hand on Mal's shoulder. "Look, I really am glad you showed up. I probably would have gotten lonely real fast."

"You would have still had Zelda to talk to," said Mal, tapping her ear piece.

Link sighed, reminded that he needed to check in with her. He touched a finger to the button on the transceiver and said, "Z, you read me?" All that greeted him was static. He tried again. "Zelda, you there? Come in." Still nothing.

Mal surveyed the rock walls all around them, lighting a flashlight and shining it down the passage. "I don't think our reception will be so great down here," she told him. "Looks like these walls have a metallic alloy in them. Maybe this used to be an old mine shaft."

Link tapped his hand against his ear piece a few times, then gave up when the static sound didn't stop. "Looks it's just you and me after all."

"I think I can live with that, hero."

A large grin formed on Link's face. He could live with it too...definitely.

_**A/N:** Thank goes to Seldavia for reading this so long ago and catching those silly errors for me. Also, her more recent work on this is truly awesome as well._

_Oh, and please review honestly. Constructive criticism is appreciated and often put to good use._


	7. Chapter 6: Trouble Unprecedented

_**Chapter Six: Trouble Unprecedented**_

By Sparty

The olive-skinned man standing by the window of his "throne room" and looking out over the metropolitan expanse of nighttime New York City usually conducted business during the daytime hours, but many who worked with him knew he habitually labored well beyond what anyone else did or even could. Conspiratorially, people talked about how he would likely work himself to death; oh, if they only knew the truth about him...

At the moment there was an operation happening on the other side of the world that requested his immediate attention, and his work, as usual, extended well into the night. He grinned devilishly to himself as he listened to his contact in Tibet. The ring in his ear vibrated with a man's voice as he made his call to the head of Dragmire Industries.

"Your new satellite network was successful in picking up the energy signatures of the Triforce bearers," spoke the rough-sounding man on the other end of phone call. "We were able to pinpoint the location of the two missing pieces: one is at a base camp on Mount Everest, and we followed the other to an opening in the mountain range, a few kilometers away."

"Interesting," murmured Ganondorf in his deep, gravelly voice. "Zelda and her ragtag gang of followers rarely ever leave the safe-haven of their headquarters. We should assume that if they're going to great lengths and funds for such a mission to the Himalayas, it very well may be something that could threaten my position of power."

"Then we won't let them succeed," assured the other man. "As long as the money's good, so is our service."

Ganondorf nodded absently. What was so important in the mountains of Tibet? If it was a relic of power, then he desired it for himself. Zelda's forces were starting to grow in number; it wouldn't do to let them grow powerful either. It was bad enough that the bearers of the other two Triforce pieces had recently become allies, but now they were actually considering defeating him...and it scared him, not because he thought it probable, but because history tended to repeat itself, a fact that he fought hard to overcome.

This same group of people, though not always the same individuals, had done him in time and again in the past. Notwithstanding, his power and influence was greater than it had ever been before. His empire of wealth had gained him considerable strength among a large percentage of the world, and now he basically had entire armies at his beck and call, the United States government depending upon his company's weapons' research. All who dared oppose him was crushed under the heavy weight of his corporate heel.

Ganondorf had lived for centuries upon centuries. Though he had been defeated time and again by Heroes chosen by the Goddesses of Hyrule, his indomitable spirit had lived on, always to be revived to take up the fight again. He fought to defy the creator deities, to take their power for his own and oppose those they had chosen to defend the land. He had only ever tasted of their power, and its effects lingered upon his soul, leaving him thirsting for more. That is what drove him on...that is why he persisted even until the present day.

Ever since the disappearance of Hyrule because of the dwindling of magic, he had been forced to exist in its sister world: Earth. He had retained his longevity of life, but the sacred relic of the Goddesses, the Triforce, had been in the hands of Hyrule's still-existent Royal Family. To make matters worse, they had separated it into three parts, as had been done in the past, to better keep it from the hands of Ganondorf or any other entity seeking its omnipotent powers.

To secure his prolonged existence, he had been forced to fake his own death many times. Humans had a short life expectancy, and he needed to be able to walk among them under the guise of mortality. His will was always written out to himself, masquerading as his own son. Somehow, even after all these years, he had gotten away with it each time. He hadn't faked his death in over thirty years, and if he recovered the remaining pieces of the Triforce soon, he wouldn't ever have to again.

"Mr. Dragmire?" It was his contact in Tibet, trying to get his attention. The man, like Ingo, was another of the sort that dealt in underhanded deeds, but this one was a little more established than the other, commanding a team of mercenaries and keeping a steady income, whereas Ingo had tended to work alone and sporadically.

And now that particular failed assassin served him as a stalfos; this suited Ganondorf much better.

"What, Byrne?" he growled at the other man, silently chiding himself for letting his mind wander.

"I can send you updated visual information via a secure line over the Internet, if you're interested."

Ganondorf turned from his vantage point at the window to sit in the swivel chair behind his immense desk. He saw the feed attempting to establish a connection, so he pressed "accept", then waited for the information to appear on his screen. A overhead map showed up on the monitor, displaying a portion of the Himalayan mountain range. He could clearly see two blinking symbols, each in the shape of a golden triangle.

"You're going to need my help out there," Ganondorf told him.

"Sir?"

"What I mean is that I'm coming out there myself," he said, hardening his tone a bit.

"But we're halfway around the world right now. Your private jet will take time, and time is something we don't have. Who knows how long the Triforce bearers will be in place? I'll send my men in to take care of them, nice and easy."

"No!" Ganondorf slammed his palm down on his desk top. "Private jets mean nothing to me. They've always just been a way for me to travel inconspicuously. I have a different mode of travel in mind."

Byrne's voice seemed to tighten on the other end of the line. "I don't understand, sir...what are you planning to do, teleport yourself here?"

"Geh, heh, heh..." laughed Ganondorf eerily. The Triforce symbol on the back of his right hand began to burn with a golden light, his dark office chamber becoming as bright as midday. The light surrounded and enveloped his large frame. He stood up from his seat and backed away from his desk, just as dark armor mystically appeared on his body, replacing his business suit. His hair remained in its pony-tail, but a diadem of gems set in gold shone upon his forehead. His hands were covered in thick gauntlets, and his feet became clad in heavy boots. At his side was sheathed a long-handled broadsword, its blade ending at three and a half feet. A blood-red cape was attached to the pauldrons covering his shoulders, and its heavy fabric whipped about him as he turned to look back out over New York City.

He had only to picture in his mind's eye the intended destination. Millenia of practice had allowed him to master this difficult spell, and he handled it with ease. The city lights below began to fade away, the black night brightening into a white expanse. Cold wind began to bite at Ganondorf's exposed face, and snow was already catching in his beard.

Byrne's stressed voice sounded in Ganondorf's ear. "Sir, the satellite uplink lost your image...oh, wait, there it is...wha-what is this? How did you...? You're in Tibet, sir?"

"I told you—I had a different mode of travel in mind." Ganondorf surveyed his surroundings, locating the base camp where one of the Triforce signatures had been coming from. He felt a surge of power flow though him, and the golden mark beneath his gauntlet glowed brightly, visible even through the thick armor. Part of the Triforce was near, the throb of his own piece attesting to that fact.

"You're going in all by yourself, sir? My men are armed with M-4s and ready to strike."

"Guns?" Ganondorf was unimpressed. "Your men would be wasted on this. Now that I'm here, I can do things the right way." Dark energies began to swirl about him, picking up entire snow banks and giving new form to them. The snow hardened as it was packed tight, and it turned to cloudy ice. These in turn were carved by unseen hands into bipedal demons, each wielding a spear of crystallized frost. When about a dozen had been formed, they stood stoically about Ganondorf's figure, awaiting their master's orders.

The other man sighed over the connection. "Well, since you're at the camp, I'll send a few of my men to follow up on the signature at the cave."

Annoyed, Ganondorf finally said, "Fine, do what you think is most efficient. Hopefully, when I arrive after I finish up here, your men won't already be dead."

Cockily, the man replied, "My men are comparable to US Marines: I'd be surprised if they get so much as a scratch on this mission. I'll send the cave's coordinates to your phone."

Ganondorf removed his Blackberry phone from a pocket beneath his armor. It was linked by Bluetooth to the earring, and it began to download the data sent to him from his contact, displaying it on his handheld's screen. Satisfied, Ganondorf placed the device back in its place beneath his armor and continued on towards the camp, followed by his small group of icy enforcers.

* * *

Impera was alerted when she caught sight of a sudden golden flash from the corner of her eye. "Princess, your Triforce!"

Zelda glanced down in alarm at her right hand—indeed, the triangular mark of the Triforce of Wisdom was aglow with its inner light. "Another Triforce piece is close by," she remarked. "It can't be Link—he just made it to the cave moments ago."

Mido's small frame suddenly appeared at the tent flap, having just returned from leaving Link at the drop point. He swiveled his head from side to side, looking at the three within the enclosure. "You guys, we've got trouble—big trouble!"

Ruton reached to the side of his console and grabbed his spear, fashioned by his tribe of Zoras. "If it's not Link that's making Zelda's Triforce mark fire up like that, then there's only one other person it could be."

"Ganondorf," breathed Zelda, her eyes wide with fear. Impera strode up next to her, a wakizashi—a short Japanese sword—held in her right hand. The princess shook her head. "We're not ready to face him yet."

"We have no choice," her handmaid told her. "This mission is very important, and if we don't succeed, we may never get another chance at this. We must face Ganondorf, if only just to hold him off until Link and Mal are successful."

She grabbed Zelda by the hand and pulled her behind herself, placing her own body in front of the princess in case she needed to shield her from an attack. She followed Ruton and Mido out of the tent to survey the situation in the camp. Members of the resistance were facing off against what looked to be demons cut from the very ice of the mountain. They were numerous, and as soon as one was cut down, another few sprang up in its place.

Other people who weren't with Zelda's group were attempting to attack the ice demons with handguns and rifles. Their weapons were ineffective though, as they did little to slow the ominous advance on the camp.

Screams could be heard all about, and blood began to blot out the white ground. Impera narrowed her eyes as she surveyed the scene, seeing many downed members of the resistance. A moment later, she and Zelda were immediately assaulted by two of the icy figures, their sharp staffs threatening to skewer their prey. Zelda's handmaid instantly attacked, kicking out with her left foot at the closest enemy. It held up its staff defensively, but, even though it was set to block her blow, it was still made of brittle ice and snapped cleanly in two. Zelda, from behind Impa's guard, conjured a fire-based spell that effectively melted the two ice demons.

Ruton had apparently forgotten all about the cold around him, and had set into a group of three enemies himself. His Zora-made spear was far superior to their makeshift ice skewers, and he soon gained the upper hand, smashing their heads, limbs, and torsos with blunt force from his weapon's shaft.

Mido decided upon something a little more gutsy. He set his sights on a figure in the distance, a tall, dark man in what appeared to be some kind of archaic black armor—no doubt it was Ganondorf himself, come to survey his own destructive powers at work. The midget put his sword in its sheath on his backside and removed his powerful little bow from its resting place, setting an arrow in place to fire at his target. He wasted no time whatsoever in letting loose his small projectile, aimed straight for the dark man's head. Unfortunately, it never reached its goal, for it lit up suddenly in a blaze of dark, purple-tinged energy that reduced the arrow to mere ash.

He let loose one arrow after another, each one ending with the same result. "Ganondorf is stopping my arrows with some kind of dark magic," he growled in annoyance, scrambling to move away from a dark energy blast aimed in his direction by his quarry.

"Over here!" shouted a resistance member. "We're falling too fast to be effective, so let's get the hell out of here!" It was the helicopter pilot, motioning for his allies to make a run for the aircraft. It hadn't been given a chance to refuel before Ganondorf and his minions arrived, but it had been prepped again anyway, the pilot hoping for a quick escape instead. Impera scooped the princess in the crook of one of her muscular arms and made a dash for the helicopter. Mido followed the tall woman as did Ruton, dispatching yet another pair of ice demons along the way.

The pilot was wearing a muted green flight suit with a leather jacket over it, and a gray helmet adorned his head, its visor masking the upper half of his face. Impera reached the open door of the helicopter and handed Zelda to the man, who in turn led her into its interior. She jumped into the aircraft's cabin and turned to see Mido and Ruton being chased by what looked to be about twenty of Ganondorf's icy minions. None of the other resistance members had survived the assault, it seemed, as no one else was headed for the helicopter.

The pilot appeared next to Impera in the entryway to help Mido and Ruton up into the helicopter, and when they were both safely aboard, Impera suddenly heard a yell, followed by a strange gargling sound to her right where the pilot had been standing. She glanced over in fury as she saw what appeared to be one of the demons' skewers sticking through pilot's chest and out his backside. The unfortunate man fell to his side on the floor of the cabin, blood flowing steadily from his gasping mouth, which meant one of his lungs was undoubtedly pierced.

Zelda reached past Impera and closed the helicopter's sliding door before any more sharp projectiles could find their way to anyone else on her team. She latched the hatch shut then turned back to the wounded pilot. Mido knelt down next to him and took his vitals.

"His pulse is getting weak," said the small man. "He's in no condition to fly this thing now."

"No, really?" shouted back an annoyed Ruton. "I thought he was going to go run a marathon after this!"

"Ruton!" Impera yelled to the Zora, shutting him up. "You need to focus because it's up to you to take us up and out of here."

"But..." he protested "I'm not Mal. I'm not good with operating vehicles like she is."

"Just do it, you fish!" she persisted, pushing him towards the cockpit, forward of the cabin. The Zora did as he was told, murmuring something under his breath about how ridiculous it was to think that fish could fly.

The aircraft shuddered under the pelting of ice skewers from outside, and Zelda's Triforce mark grew ever brighter, indicating the closing proximity of Ganondorf.

"Let me get the first aid kit," muttered Mido, standing up from the pilot's side.

"No need." Impera placed a reassuring hand on the short man's arm. "Zelda and I will heal him. His lung is punctured, but I believe we can close the wound and allow him to breathe normally again." She glanced in the direction of the cockpit. "Ruton! Hurry up and lift this thing off the ground, or being called a fish will become the least of your worries!"

"I'm doing the best I can with these controls," the Zora called back, his voice a little strained. "It's not like driving a car, you know!"

Impera's attention went back to the pilot. She knelt next to him and glanced up at Zelda. "When I remove the obtruding object from his chest, you need to have the healing spell prepared. Are you ready, princess?"

Zelda nodded. "I will draw upon the powers of the Triforce of Wisdom. The spell will be become more potent if I do so." After she said this, the helicopter began to rock from side to side as Ruton successfully lifted it from off the ground. After one last shuddering impact against the side of the cabin, the Zora gained enough control to guide it away from the attacking ice demons.

Impera grasped the icy shaft with both hands, prepared to remove it from its victim. "I'm going to count down from three," she told the princess, watching the young woman concentrate on conjuring the necessary energies that would be used for the spell. "Three...two...one...NOW!"

* * *

When Mal had first joined up with Zelda's group, she had also been more than fired up to kick some Ganondorf ass. Of course, training to do so was discouraging, and it even felt nigh impossible at times. She had been sixteen then...a small girl in a big world...

She still couldn't believe that had only been three years ago. A lot had happened since then, and she and the resistance had been forced to move from location to location. It was interesting to note that their current headquarters was located in New York, just like Ganondorf's. Keeping friends close and enemies closer, she supposed.

And now this mission. If they could accomplish "Operation Evil's Bane" successfully, then the fight against Ganondorf would ultimately take a turn for the better. Indeed, the sooner they came here and got what they came for, the better it would be for everyone.

She turned to Link, who was studying the large paper in his right hand. "Hey, can ya tell where we are right now?"

Link shone his flashlight on the piece of parchment, surveying the map etched onto it. "Well, it looks like we're nearing our destination. It's weird though—the further down we go, the hotter it gets in here. You'd think that a cave in the Himalayas would stay a little cooler."

"At least there ain't any dangerous gases in this mine, or the heat would be the the smallest cow at the rodeo."

"The smallest what?"

Mal gave Link a mock, drawn-out sigh. "I forget sometimes how a city boy like you can have trouble understadin' my lingo."

"The only 'lingo' other than my own that I know is French," he told her.

Mal looked to him a little impressed, but skeptical. "You're telling me that you know French? Really?"

He grinned. "Well...maybe the only part of it I can ever remember is the French kiss." He leaned in for a wet one, just to show her exactly what he meant, but Mal placed a hand on his face instead of meeting him with her own kiss.

"Ha! Real smooth, hero!" She shoved his face away from her. "But next time you'll spare me the cheesy lines. You should know by now that this gal is a lot simpler than to need to be swept off her feet with pick-up lines."

They continued on after that, a somewhat crestfallen Link leading the two of them down the passage until they came to a large, hollowed-out chamber. In the dim glow of their flashlights, they could see abandoned mine carts and rusted tools strewn everywhere. A faint, reddish-gold light could be seen coming from one of the tunnels on the other side of the chamber.

"Well, here's our proof that this was once a mine," commented Mal, shining her light on some tracks that led from the center of the chamber to all the adjoining passages. Some carts were still on the tracks but the cobwebs on them attested to the long years of abandonment.

Link pointed to the lighted tunnel. "That's where we're headed next. I wonder what's making that glow..."

His thoughts were abruptly cut off when the room suddenly filled with a cacophony of sound. Small projectiles flew about everywhere, ricocheting off walls and hard objects in rapid succession.

Machine guns were being fired within the cavern.

"Get down!" yelled Mal, grabbing a handful of Link's shirt and yanking him low to the ground. She maneuvered the both of them behind an old cart, taking cover. The ricocheting bullets continued to fly around the chamber, bouncing off the rock walls and floor, and some even managed to punch through the cart's casing. Mal chanced a look around the edge of their hiding place, looking back towards the passage they had just exited from, but she saw nothing but darkness punctuated by muzzle flashes from the guns' carbines.

"I thought you guys said Ganondorf's men don't use guns," growled Link, pulling out his Great-Grandfather's sword.

Mal turned to Link who was sitting next to her. "These guys ain't your usual Ganondorf baddies, that's for sure. I reckon they're a group of mercenaries. They may not be on the normal payroll of Dragmire Industries, but I'm willin' to bet that Ganondorf hired 'em for a bit of work on the side."

"If only we knew magic," Link grumbled. "I don't think sword skills are going to pay off in this encounter."

"They ain't usin' flashlights," muttered Mal. "They must be usin' Night vision goggles. That's how they got the drop on us." A chunk of old wood was blown away right by Mal's ear, a bullet piercing right through the sides of the cart. "Get in the cart!" she yelled at Link. "I have an idea."

Link obeyed and jumped into it, narrowly avoiding a few bullets aimed his way. Mal reached down to the emergency brake on the wheels of the cart and pulled up on it, releasing its hold to the track. It started rolling forward, down towards the passageway that emitted the reddish-gold glow. Mal ran next to the small moving transport and jumped in, hearing Link yelp when her foot landed on his hand.

"Hey, watch where you land!" he complained, rubbing his fingers.

"Cowboy up!" she encouraged, displaying a look of innocence upon her face. The idiom was meant to tell Link he needed to be a bit tougher, and she found that it was the saying she most often needed to tell Link during their training sessions. "A girl's boot on your hand is nothin' compared to bein' shot at."

Their mine cart's acceleration increased, careening down the passage at breakneck speed. The floor to their immediate right dropped away to reveal pools of bubbling magma a ways below, the source of the tunnel's glow. The cavern was well-lit enough now that they could put out their flashlights. Unfortunately, they weren't in the clear just yet.

The two ducked instinctively when more machine-gun fire was heard from behind them. In the dim light of the cavern, Mal could see their assailants. There were three of them, all riding in a cart identical to their own. They were wearing sleek black suits, full head masks, and had removed their night vision goggles; however, their incessant shooting remained. On top of that, the shooters were gaining on the two, their combined weight speeding the descent of their cart.

Mal suddenly felt a sharp pain in her shoulder as a bullet grazed it slightly, shredding the fabric and piercing the skin. "Ahh!" she cried out, placing a hand over the small wound.

"Mal!" Link rummaged through his small pack, looking for something with which to bandage her arm.

She gave him a weak smile. "I'll be fine, hero; just a scratch. Keep your head low and we might make it out of this yet."

"Stop calling me a hero," he protested. "When have I ever done anything heroic?"

Link finally procured a strip of white cloth, and Mal snatched it from him, wrapping it around her arm where she had been shot. Pulling it tight with her teeth and her free hand, she replied, "I'm callin' you a hero whether ya like it or not. Anyone with the guts to face up against Ganondorf is a hero in my book." Finishing her bandage, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Got it?" Despite Link's continued confusion, he was quite satisfied with the answer he received.

Mal wasn't sure how they were going to make it out alive. The three black-clad men were still gaining on them. Looking further back down the track, she could see yet another cart full of assailants, also carrying fierce-looking machine guns. Not only that, but there was no telling what kinds of dangers awaited them on the tracks as they sped along in an extremely old mine cart. It wasn't Mal's brightest idea ever, but it had been the only option she had seen at the time.

_What are we going to do?_ she thought helplessly. She looked to Link, but he looked just as apprehensive as she felt. _If only he'd had more training before this...no. No situation is hopeless. A solution is bound to present itself._

* * *

"Aha!" exclaimed Ruton joyously from the cockpit. "I think I'm getting the hang of this finally."

"That's great," said a man from behind him. "Now, if you don't mind."

Ruton looked sheepishly back towards the cabin and saw the pilot, very much healed (though with a large hole in his flight suit stained around the edges with blood), standing in the doorway to the cockpit. "Oh, of course sir, she's all yours." He stood and allowed the pilot to take his place. Ruton whistled, amazed at how quickly the pilot had recovered, then sauntered on back towards the remainder of the group in the back of the helicopter.

"It's amazing," Mido was saying. "I still can't believe some of the things you guys can do." Obviously, he was speaking of the miraculous healing job that Zelda and Impera had done on the pilot.

"Thanks for relieving me," said Ruton to the princess and her handmaid, turning their attention towards him and away from the dumbfounded Mido. "Where's our pilot going to take us?"

"Right now, we're just trying to get as far from Ganondorf as we possibly can," explained Impera.

"What about Mal and Link? Do you think they're all right?"

Zelda held up black portable radio. "I've been trying to reach them, but the cave they're in has complete radio silence. There might be a large amount of metal strains there."

Impera nodded. "It was a mine, long ago, but the workers hit too close to a magma vein and had to close down the caverns. The place hasn't been visited in over a century."

Ruton blinked. "Sounds like a dangerous place. Look, radio silence unnerves me, metal strains or not. I say we go check on our two adventurers. Ganondorf probably sent some people after them as well."

Before anyone else could voice an opinion of what to do next, a violent shudder was suddenly felt throughout the helicopter. "What the hell was that?" yelled the pilot back towards his passengers. Another shake and the aircraft nearly crashed into the side of a mountain slope before the pilot corrected his course.

Mido yelped as what looked like a dark metal fist punched through the closed door of the helicopter. Impera's eyes widened and Ruton grabbed his spear, ready for whatever was on the other side...at least he hoped he was ready.

The fist retracted and Impera readied her own sword, steeling herself for a fight. Zelda's Triforce Mark was glowing angrily, as if it was about to explode with an overload of power. The metal-clad fist reappeared, this time in a different location. A second fist re-emerged from the first hole and they both clasped onto it, ripping it forcefully to the side. An icy blast of wind swept through the interior of the helicopter as the broken door was flung away.

There, crouching menacingly in the doorway, was a darkly-armored figure with long, fiery, red hair. An enormous broadsword was strapped to his waist, sheathed in an elaborate gold-trimmed scabbard, and a deep red cape billowed about his shoulders, caught in the wind outside the aircraft. He smiled devilishly, looking from passenger to passenger with evil glee in his yellowish eyes.

Ganondorf Dragmire was on board, the Triforce of Power at his disposal.

_**A/N: **Bah! You guys had better be glad I edit these chapters as much as I do. Also, Seldavia is pretty amazing at catching all the more questionable bits of writing that I produce. I do recommend her own stories, if you ever feel the need to read something pretty amazing._

_Reviews are appreciated, and be honest in them. Those are the best kind._


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